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Origin and history

The Priory of Saint Quirin, located in the eponymous village of the Great East, was founded in the early (or mid-) 12th century by the Count of Dabo. It became a place of major pilgrimage, dependent on the Abbey of Marmoutier in Alsace. Its origin is linked to a hermitage named Godelsadis, where Geppa, sister of Pope Leo IX and abbess of Neuss, built a high chapel. The first certified prior, Wolframus, was appointed in 1122. This religious site, dedicated to Saint Quirin, a Roman martyr, played a central spiritual and social role in the medieval Lorraine region.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the priory was completely rebuilt under the impulse of prior Dom Edmond Herb, as evidenced by the date 1711 engraved on the cartridge of the main building body. The works, conducted in a baroque and rococo style, include an octagonal campanile, ordered facades, and carved decorations (medalons, abbatial weapons). The priorial church, rebuilt simultaneously, was consecrated in 1724. The priory was abolished in 1769 by royal patent letter, with his income transferred to the chapter of the noble canonesses of Metz, led by a Choiseul-Stainville.

The architecture of the priory consists of two L-shaped bodies: one on the Way of the Garinette (7 spans, bulb-shaped campanile), the other place of the Church (6 spans, pediment windows). Materials include sandstone, coating, flat tiles, and slate. Remarkable elements remain, such as a rococo door decorated with medallions (a rider, a saint in armor), a scauguette with cut strips, and wrought iron stairs. A major renovation took place in 1910, as indicated by a cartridge dated on the church square facade.

The Priory, a communal property since the Revolution, now houses a school, a presbytery, and housing. Partially classified as historical monuments (facades and roofs in 1986, church in 1994), it illustrates the religious and architectural heritage of Lorraine, marked by the 18th century reforms and post-revolutionary transformations. Historical sources (Fischer, Kraus, Sigrist) underline its importance in the regional monastic network, linked to Marmoutier and the family of the Counts of Dabo.

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