Sunday 7 May 2017

Mosaic Monday # 39 - Saints, Statues & Sculptures # 1

A few posts back I told you a little about one of our area's tourist attractions the Abbaye Cerisy La Foret.
This tiled plaque decorates the front of the boucherie in Cerisy La Foret
Last week the SP & I were running some errands in Cerisy village and decided to stop by the Abbaye to get some photographs for a new blog post.

St Vigor

The origins of the Abbey at Cerisy La Foret are lost in the mists of time, however legend has it that the first religious structure to appear on the site was a monument built in the sixth century by Saint Vigor, Bishop of Bayeux, on land that he received after vanquishing a dragon.


the apse has 15 windows on three levels

Over the years the buildings fell into decline until 1032 when Duke Robert of Normandy, William the Conqueror's father, founded an Abbey in the grounds.





Whilst researching the origins of the Abbey and what became of the Benedictine monks who lived there I came across the names of several other monasteries and priories in the region.


Imagine the thrill when I saw the name of our very small village, St Marcouf, in a book entitled "Religious Connections of Early Normandy" and the passage below on the website mondes- normandes
"The abbey was founded in 1032 in the middle of the forest by Duke Robert the Magnificent. It inherited the remote site of a small religious establishment founded at the beginning of the 6th century by St Vigor, Bishop of Bayeux, and destroyed by the Scandinavian invasions; the Benedictines thus restored, as at Saint-Marcouf or Orval, a religious continuity after this interruption. Nothing now survives of the ducal monastery and the current abbey church belongs to a reconstruction dating from the last quarter of the 11th century."


In my next post I'll share the story of Saint Marcouf du Rochy and the ex- Presbytere which we call home.




19 comments:

  1. What a fabulous area you live in - such history and glorious old buildings. And then to find your own little town, splendid. That photos are wonderful.

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  2. Love that you share the history as you visit wonderful sites. Thank you Maggie for your 39th Mosaic Monday. Appreciated and looked forward to each Monday.
    Joy

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  3. Maggie, thanks for sharing this. I love seeing special places in your corner of the world. Great photos and interesting information. Thanks for hosting!

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  4. I love learning the history of a place, Maggie! What a beautiful abby this is and a wonderful connection to your community. I recently visited a Vikings exhibit in a museum in Denver that was on loan from Sweden and learned about the Vikings invasion of France and how Normandy became a part of their settlements. So fascinating!

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  5. Excellent post with great information
    MB

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  6. I can can barely imagine living in a town with such history ... and even in your own home. I am happy and grateful that you share it so beautifully. (Can't help but think that Saint Vigor certainly deserved to receive that land ... after all, he did a good job, since the dragons never did come back, right?). Thank you, seriously, for sharing ... I love learning this way and it's an honor to share with you through MM.

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  7. I'm so glad you stopped in to take those photos and share them with us. Among my favorite things are cathedrals and abbeys, especially those with years of history. We live in such a new country that people get excited when they buy a Civil War era house from the mid nineteenth century. Thank you for hosting MM and for sharing all that history with us.

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  8. A beautiful abbey with lots of history and great architecture and art, Maggie.
    Thanks for hosting.
    I have a jigsaw mosaic today.
    (As to my previous entries, I use Photoshop a lot to edit the images and employ the "layers" feature to make superimposed images differentially transparent/opaque).

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  9. Such old and amazing history you live amongst. Wonderful statues you have shared. Happy new week to you. Hope it's a lovely one.

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  10. What a beautiful and sacred spot, Maggie! And how delightful to find the connection to your town. Sixth century -- oh, if those walls could talk.

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  11. And I've netted myself some birds, too ;-)

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  12. I just love the idea of doing errands and stopping in for a bit of culture and history along the way. There are so many opportunities for you to do that in Normandy, and I eagerly read each one, often doing a little more research afterwards.
    The Abbaye is an imposing structure, there on the hill, with an equally impressive history. I look forward to reading about your own little village the history of your presbytère.
    Bonne semaine!

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  13. Great photos Maggie - you live in history. I wish you a lovely week.

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  14. All that history, so sweet and holy. Thanks, Maggie!

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  15. Maggie, that is some old history. Amazing. Thanks for sharing. Sylvia D.

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  16. Finally arriving for my visit Maggie...nearly went to the local ER last evening, having some health issues that will need to be addressed once an appointment can be gotten. In the meantime, your visit to this scared place is very special. I always enjoy learning about such places and your images and the summary that goes along is always so very nice. Looking forward to your next entry. Have a wonderful remainder to your week~

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!