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Origin and history

The royal abbey of Saint John the Baptist of Saint John the Angely was founded in 817 by Pépin I of Aquitaine, Duke of Aquitaine, after he had received the relic of the skull of Saint John the Baptist. This Benedictine monastery quickly became a major pilgrimage site, attracting thousands of faithful thanks to this precious relic. However, the Viking raids of the 9th and 10th centuries caused looting and destruction, forcing the monks to hide the relic, found only in 1010 by Abbé Alduin.

In the 11th century, the abbey enjoyed remarkable growth thanks to the gifts of the Dukes of Aquitaine and pilgrims. Geoffroy Martel of Anjou and his wife Agnes of Burgundy made him an important endowment in 1047, consolidating his status as a religious and economic power in the West. The Hundred Years Wars (XIVth-15th centuries) and the Wars of Religion (XVIth century) marked its decline: looted in 1562 and destroyed in 1568, it definitively lost its relic in a fire, ending its role as a stage on the way to Compostela.

Rebuilt from 1622 in a classic style, the abbey now houses a central body surrounded by "French-style" and adorned skylights. Its cloister, dismantled in 1805, was raised to the square of the city hall as a covered market. Transformed into a college and then a high school after the Revolution, it now houses the municipal library (in the former 18th century painting refectory), a music school and a cultural centre. Its 1750 portal, restored in 1990, bears witness to its past prestige.

The abbey preserved intellectual treasures, such as the manuscripts of Pascal (including the Thoughts), and received illustrious personalities, including Louis XIV and the Duke of Anjou, the future king of Spain. Its rooms still house chimneys and rock mouldings, while its bells, dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries, recall its religious heritage. Ranked among historical monuments, it now embodies the medieval and classical memory of St. John's Angely.

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