Abbaye de Fontevraud (3rd, Gwendoline)

Gwendoline nous présentait ensuite les batiments conventuels de l'Abbaye de Fontevraud. Voici sa visite en anglais, mais pas de panique elle a traduit les mots les plus importants tout au long de son texte ! 

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CLOISTER

We are in the cloister. A cloister is a place of processions and meditations. During Romanesque Period a cloister was built but Renée de Bourbon decided to restore it. So the cloister that we can see dates from XVI c. There are 2 periods about the restoration of the cloister. At first, RB rebuilt the south gallery between 1518-1519. It is a gothic style, you can see ribbed vault and thick buttresses, but we can already see some signs of 1st Renaissance. For example: the decoration, the pilasters decorated by roses, the symmetry...

Later, LB, RB's niece, rebuilt the 3 other wings of the cloister. The vaults remained gothic whereas we are on the second part of XVI c. These vaults look like the vaults of the south gallery. There weren't evolutions. On the other hand, columns are different. We can see coupled columns with only one Ionic capital. Moreover we can notice the importance of the stylobate, the lower part of the column. Even if we are in the middle of XVI c, decoration remains limited. I think it's because we are in a monastery and there's no place for enthusiasm. Architecture must be plain, even if sometimes architecture shows abbey was powerful. You can observe in any capital/arc, there is a “L” that represents LB.

It is said that from the end of XVIII c galleries were glazed ( = vitrées)

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STAIRCASE

The stairs, built by LB, dates from half of XVI c. It is a beautiful stairs from Renaissance that links the dormitory to the cloister and to an other dormitory. Indeed, there were so many nones that abbesses needed to build 3 dormitories. We must make the difference between the lower dormitory, situated in this part, next to the staircase, the great dormitory that we are going to visit, and the upper dormitory situated above the refectory. About the staircase, what we notice it is its barrel vault (= voûte en berceau) decorated by a coffered ceiling (= plafond à caissons). The staircase is lighted thanks to the bays of the lower dormitory.

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THE GREAT DORMITORY

As you can see it is a big room, it is 64 meters long, it spreads out all along the east wing of the cloister, because it was a Benedictine custom. This building is supported by barrel vaults that constitute a kind of gallery on the ground floor, we'll see this outside. Upstairs there is the upper dormitory but it is closed. During the reform of Fontevraud Order, from 1500, RB decided to divided dormitories in cells, so, there was an axial corridor, and each cell was situated on either side of the corridor. At first, each cell was separated by a kind of curtain, then, it was walls. In each cell there were 1bed with 2 mattresses, curtains, one table, a chest of drawers and 2 chairs. As you can see, each cell had got one window, to light the room1.Other windows lit the dormitory. In 1575, EB ordered to enlarge the building to create an other building, the noviciate (= noviciat) . The building began here, you can notice the difference between the 2 rooms, but it is easier to see it outside. The noviciate welcomed future nones. I propose you to cross the dormitory to discover marks of the prison period. You can find different graffiti. During prison period it seems that the great dormitory had been divided into 3 levels. This level and two others because they had to increase the number of the cell and the numbers of workshops (= ateliers) . In this wall we can see these marks, we notice holes that represent place of beams for each level.

Now, as you can see today, this room is a place of exhibition.

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THE REFECTORY

Here, one more time, we are in a long and big room. It is 45 meters high and 10 meters long. A refectory existed during Romanesque period but RB decided to reorganize it just before reorganising the south wing of the cloister.

It is a lighted room thanks to theses big windows on the south side, opened between buttresses and little windows on the north side, opened from the cloister. The south openings above all, gave warmth in the refectory. Indeed, only one room of the monastery was heated, the warming room, next to the chapter house (= le chauffoir).

We can walk and observe the ribbed vaults. The vaults begin more than 2 meters from the floor, this characteristic increases the volume of this room. Moreover, these vaults are lowered, they have an horizontal pressure so big buttresses must support them. Thick buttresses are outside and a gallery above the cloister support these vaults.

Here it was possible to welcome hundred of nones. They ate at 11.30 and before the sunset. Meals took place here. A part of the refectory was destroyed to make a new kitchen. It was easier to have a kitchen close to the refectory. During meals, nones were quiet and they hadn't to speak. One of them read passage of Bible or passage of Fontevriste rules. She read from a pulpit (= une chaire). They stayed here between 45 minutes or one hour. They were seated according to their hierarchy. We know the abbess set down on this part because of the ribbed vault. It is more decorated than the others.

In this room we find elements of prison period. This ground is the same as prison's. Here we found workshops. Warders kept watch on prisoners thanks to 2 platforms: this platforms that we can still see today and an other on the opposite side. We can still see marks.

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OUTSIDE

To continue with the prison period, I would like to show you outside some graffiti that prisoners made when they worked. You must imagine the grass all around the abbey was the place of workships. In Fontevraud, prisoners created chairs, pearly buttons (= boutons en nacre), … They rose at 6.30 and they slept at 19.30. Their life was dormitory, refectory and workshop.

Just before going to discover the Romanesque Kitchens, look at this building. It is the noviciate that we talked about few minutes ago. We really see the difference with the great dormitory, thanks to the roof, thanks to the windows at the top of the roof, Renaissance windows.

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ROMANESQUE KITCHENS

It was built between 1144-1189 after a donation of Henri II Plantagenêt. It's one of the 1st monument of the monastery. But there are many questions about its function: a secret refuge, a funeral chapel, a kitchen, a smoke house (= fumoir) ... In any case, this building is exceptional because it is the only example of Romanesque Kitchens that we have. Indeed, this type of building existed in many place, above all in Benedictine monastery but many of them had been destroyed.

As you can see it is a circular stone building. You can observe even the roof is a stone roof whereas other buildings of the monastery have got a wooden and slate roof. The roof is decorated by fish-scales. This building has characteristics of a building of Poitou.

We can enter to the kitchen to understand its construction. A centralized plan was used. We can see an octagon cut by 4 pointed arches, so the octagon is transformed into a square. Then the square is reduced by arches and becomes again a octagon finished by a circular opening, one of the chimney. There are many chimneys in this room. It why we think it was a smoke house. Moreover nones hadn't to eat much, they made vows (= voeux dans le sens religieux) of poverty even in the food. All around the building you can see apsidiole. On a first time, there were 8 but when RB rebuilt the refectory she decided to built an other kitchen, so she destroyed these 2 apsidiole. On a second time, during the prison period, an other apsidiole was destroyed to create this entrance.

If this building was really a smoke house, we think nones used apsidiole according to the wind to smoke fishes for example. Indeed nones ate above all fishes, fruits and vegetables. They changed apsidiole according to the wind to avoid smell and fire. The other apsidiole were used to cook.