Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Choir
Nothing
remains of the
earliest choir.
The ruins (left)
are from a 13th-
century Gothic
version, comprising
an ambulatory with
seven radiating
chapels. An ornate
rood screen is
decorated with bas-
reliefs illustrating the
passion of Christ.
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in Abbey grounds
Charles VII's
Passage
This covered arcade,
built in the early 1330s
to link the two
churches, predates
Charles VII, but was
named after a visit he
made here with his
mistress, Agnès Sorel,
whose heart is buried
under a marble slab in
the north transept chapel.
Église St-Pierre
The façade (detail
above) and first two
bays of the nave date
from the 10th century;
the chapel of St Martin
contains signs of an
even older oratory.
The rest of the ruins
date from the 13th
and 14th centuries.
Chapterhouse
It was in this 11th- to
12th-century hall that a
chapter from the rules of
St Benedict was read out
every morning, and
monastic affairs were
discussed. Between the
12th and mid-13th
centuries, it became the
abbots' burial ground.
The Maurists
After a period of spiritual
decline in the 16th and
17th centuries, the
Maurists, a fiercely
intellectual and devout
congregation of St Maur
founded in Paris in
1618, were dispatched
to reform Jumièges
Abbey. Among their
improvements to its
physical structure were
a vast library, the abbey
dwelling-house, and a
monumental double
staircase leading to a
broad terrace and the
gardens beyond.
Cloister
Today, the cloister is an
expanse of grass with a
yew tree at its centre, but it
was once the heart of the
abbey, used by monks for
promenades, ceremonies,
meditation and processions.
Abbey
Dwelling-house
This imposing house
(left) was built for
François de Harlay de
Champvallon - a
“commendatory”
abbot appointed
directly by the king.
For more on the Abbey Route See p76
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