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Origin and history

The Priory of Grammont is a former Priory of the Order of Grandmont, founded around 1195 by Richard Heart of Lion. Located in Chassay on the commune of Saint-Prouant (Vendée), it is one of the most complete Grandmontan sites in France, despite the disappearance of its cloister. Its buildings, built around 1200, are remarkably homogeneous and preserved, with a chapel whose vault was replaced in the seventeenth century by a structure.

Long attributed to an act by Richard Coeur de Lion in 1194, his foundation is probably slightly later. By 1292 there were only five religious in the community. In 1629, the priory was attached to the Duchy of Châteauroux by letters patent. It was abolished in 1772 with the Grandmontain order and became a farm until it was bought by the commune in 1985.

Filed with the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments since 1987, the priory now belongs to the Vendée department. It consists of three bodies of traditional houses: the capitular hall, the refectory and the wing of the conversers. Despite deteriorations, its state of conservation remains exceptional for a medieval monument of this type.

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