You are here:
Abbeys > France > Languedoc-Roussillon > Saint-Martin-le-Vieil > Villelongue

Villelongue

Built in the XIIth century by Cistercian monks coming from the monastery of Bonnefont en Comminges, the abbey has developed in the XIVth century after the crusade against the Cathar heresy. Its decay began in 1529 with the system of the commende: poor management of the estate, of the finance, spiritual side neglected… When occurs the Revolution, there are only three monks left in a ruined abbey. The revolutionaries won't even take the trouble to sack the abbey, as the lack of maintenance has done the work for them. In 1791 the Abbey of Villelongue and all its lands are dispersed and sold as public property. The abbey will know several owners, more or less worried to save it. It is listed by the Office of Historic Monuments in 1916. The abbey s acquired by the Doctor Eloffe in 1965. His children became attached to its maintenance with the assistance of the “Association des Amis de l'Abbaye de Villelongue”. The Abbaye de Villelongue, which had remained closed to the world, is once again looking outward thanks to the preservation of its riches, and without the loss of its intimate character. This surely lies at the heart of its charm. Charm and poetry of the middle age inspirited garden settled in the former monastic enclosure. A fine example of architecture and sculptures, typical from the Languedoc southern gothic style of the XIIth and XIIIth centuries. This abbey combines the Cistercian strictness to the flamboyance of its sculptures in a romantic setting.