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Origin and history

The maladrerie Saint-Nicolas de Gravigny, founded in the early 12th century, was initially a priory-leproserie located on a land granted by the Abbey of the Sainte-Trinité-du-Mont de Rouen. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it housed a religious community of about twenty people led by a prior, before losing its monastic vocation between the 13th and 14th centuries. The bourgeois of Evreux regained control of it in the 15th century, turning it into a farm, then it was attached to the office of the city's poor in 1557.

The death of the last prior in 1680 marked the end of his priorial status, and the maladry was sold as a national good in 1795. Abandoned in 1985, it was bought by the commune of Gravigny in 1994, and its restoration began in 1996. The remaining buildings, including a hall for the sick and a residence for the prior, date back to the 12th, 16th and 18th centuries, and were listed as historical monuments in 1995.

Located north of Evreux, in the valley of Iton, the maladry was close to the city walls and the great road of Rouen. It included a chapel, a cemetery, and agricultural buildings such as a barn, a dovecote and a well. The site was bounded by the "bourgeois sense", now renamed Rue de la Libération, and was surrounded by the forest of Saint-Nicolas and the river Iton.

The leprosy illustrates the evolution of medieval religious establishments from a place of care and isolation for lepers to a farm. Its history also reflects the social and economic transformations of the region, including its attachment to the charitable institutions of Evreux from the 16th century. Architectural remains, such as the portions of the enclosure wall and medieval structures, testify to its historical importance.

Today, the site is communal property and is subject to heritage protection. The excavations and restorations undertaken since the 1990s have made it possible to highlight this heritage, while preserving the archaeological remains still buried. Saint-Nicolas maladry remains a significant example of Norman maladries, at the crossroads of religious, medical and agricultural histories.

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