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Origin and history

The royal abbey of Our Lady of Nyoiseau, also known as the Abbey of Nyoiseau, was founded in 1109 by the hermit Salomon, disciple of Robert d'Arbrissel (founder of Fontevraud). Installed on the banks of the Oudon thanks to the gifts of Gautier de Nyoiseau, it was directed by abbesses, often noble, including the first, Eremburge, who came from Fontevraud. Until 1792 38 abbesses followed each other, with protectors such as Foulques V of Anjou and Charles I of Sicily. The vestiges of the cloister and the capitular hall date back to the 12th century, while the commons (logis of the economist, kitchens, parlor of the abbesse) were rebuilt in the 17th century.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Abbey was marked by the influence of the Bellay family, which imposed three successive abbesses (Madeleine, Anne, Guyonne). In 1616 Louis XIII intervened to restore the Benedictine rule by appointing Françoise Roy, abbess of Nevers, who brought back discipline. At his death in 1643, the abbey had about fifty sisters. The current buildings, such as the chaplains' house (1647) or the barn (1673), reflect this period of reconstruction, mixing tuffeau and red sandstone.

The French Revolution rang the glass of the abbey: confiscated in 1792, its property was sold and the abbey church burned by the caulians. Abandoned, it served as a stone quarry, and its bell tower collapsed in 1827. In the 20th century, some of the buildings (such as the economic pavilion) were restored to house the town hall. Since the 2000s, a local association has been working to safeguard it, organizing shows in the cloister. In 2022, designers Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman became a "design temple". In 2023, she was selected for the Heritage Lotto in Maine-et-Loire.

The elements protected since 1994 include the walls of the medieval cloister, the capitular hall, the 17th century attic, and the archaeological floors of the ancient church and necropolis. The site, partially in ruins, bears witness to eight centuries of religious, political and architectural history, from Benedictine to contemporary preservation issues.

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