Abbey St Martin du Canigou

Built in 1009 this monastery has to be one of the most dramatic in the whole of France. It will take you a good 45 minutes to walk up the winding road but the views are great.The night before we had stayed at Vernet les Bains which is a short drive away.

Between 1783 and 1785 the monastery was abandoned and eventually it became a source of local stone.It was restored between 1902 and 1932. Currently it is occupied by the Community of the Beatitudes.

 The lower church has a very low ceiling which rarely exceeds 3 meters. This is particularly noticeable in the crypt.. The eastern part probably dates all the way back to 1009.

The upper church was built slightly later, between 1010 and 1020. The columns had to be strengthened.

The gatehouse was heavily damaged in the earthquake of 1428 and has never been fully restored.

Abbey 1

Abbey 2

Abbey 3

Abbey 4

Abbey 5

Abbey 6

Abbey 7

Abbey 8

Abbey 9

Abbey 10

Abbey 11

Abbey 12

Abbey 13

Abbey 14 - the crypt

Abbey 15

Abbey 16

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The Abbey in literature.

The crypt is one of the key settings chosen by Elizabeth Kostova for her Dracula novel "The Historian". It was here that Dracula learnt his skills and here that the heroine of the novel was supposed to kill him.