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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame d'Aiguevive Abbey, located in Faverolles-sur-Cher in the Loir-et-Cher, was founded in the 12th century by monks of the Order of Saint Augustine. Its name, acqua viva (living waters), comes from its location at the confluence of two valleys, where a hermit was installed in 1134. In 1147, the seigneur of Montrichard offered the site to the canons of the priory next to Notre-Dame-de-Belvaut, who built a church and monastery there from 1154, under the permission of Engebault de Preuilly, archbishop of Tours.

Until the 14th century, the abbey prospered thanks to the donations of local lords, accumulating land, wood and houses. However, the Hundred Years' War ravaged it, reducing its community to fewer than ten monks at the end of the 15th century. In 1558 she passed under the regime of commende, and the abbots began to exhaust her resources until the Revolution. The wars of Religion in the 16th century aggravated its decline, forcing the monks to sell part of their forests to finance their protection.

In the 17th century, the abbey, in ruins and almost deserted (3 monks in 1673), was associated with the Congregation of France. The French Revolution sounded its bell: the decree of 1789 confiscated his property, and the last prior was expelled in 1790. The buildings, sold as national goods in 1792 and 1795, were partly dismantled (the cloister served as a quarry, the vaults of the nave were cut down in 1840). Limited restorations took place in the 19th century, but major works did not begin until the 20th century, saving the abbey, its murals and its stone arrow.

Today, the abbey keeps traces of its pools and ponds, as well as a fountain dedicated to Saint Gilles, a place of pilgrimage that is still active on September 1 and 8. From the cloister and the claustral buildings, there is only one stable and some outbuildings left, while the portal, the abside and the choir capitals keep their original decorations.

Classified as a Historic Monument since 1875, the Abbey bears witness to six centuries of religious and architectural history, marked by periods of glory, decline and partial rebirth.

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