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Origin and history

The lantern of the dead of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, also called the funeral chapel of Sainte-Catherine in its lower part, is an emblematic building of the early 13th century. Located in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, it was originally located in the heart of the medieval cemetery, as was the tradition of the time for the lanterns of the dead. This square-planed monument combines a vaulted pendant ossuary and a high chapel decorated with curved vaults with multiple veins, whose keys represent angels and possibly evangelists.

The construction of this lantern is attributed to Alix, Duchess of Lorraine and daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, who retired to Fontevraud after his widowhood. She joined her mother, Marie de Champagne, 8th abbesse of the abbey of Fontevraud, to whom she briefly succeeded between 1208 and 1209. The building, which was declared national during the French Revolution, was then transformed into a communal house before sheltering today a home and an artisanal workshop.

Ranked a historic monument in 1957, the lantern of the dead illustrates medieval funeral architecture and its role in religious practices of the time. Its current location, along the Sainte-Catherine aisle, marks the path between the church of Saint-Michel and the square of May 8, 1945, highlighting its integration into the historic urban fabric of the commune.

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