Montmartre Abbey (French: Abbaye de Montmartre) was a 12th-century Benedictine nunnery established in the Montmartre district of Paris within the Diocese of Paris.

The Montmartre vineyard - all that remains of the abbey
A 19th-century pen and wash drawing of the adjoining church by Antoine-Louis Goblain

In 1133, King Louis VI purchased the Merovingian church of Saint Peter of Montmartre in order to establish the abbey and in the process to rebuild the church.[1] The restored church was consecrated by Pope Eugenius III in 1147, in a splendid royal ceremony during which Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter, Abbot of Cluny, acted as acolytes.[2]

The abbey was suppressed in 1790, sold in 1794 and demolished during the French Revolution, but its church, Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, survived as the parish church of Montmartre, the oldest church in Paris, now all that remains of the abbey except for a vineyard.[3] The last abbess, Marie-Louise de Laval-Montmorency, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Abbey of the Abbesses Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today (France Monthly, Issue 1, 2004)
  2. ^ Bailey K. Young, "Archaeology in an Urban Setting: Excavations at Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre, Paris, 1975-1977", Journal of Field Archaeology 5.3 (Autumn 1978)
  3. ^ "Place du Tertre". Paris Digest. 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  4. ^ Monnier, Mechtilde (1921). La dernière abbesse de Montmartre: Marie Louise de Montmorency-Laval, 1723-1794. Paris: Paris P. Lethielleux.

48°53′17″N 2°20′24″E / 48.888°N 2.340°E / 48.888; 2.340