Abbaye de Mont Saint Eloi

Pas d’accord sur le refuge aux pigeons. Il faut y retournerCette abbaye est en pleine restauration. Lieu intrigant et magique, faites un petit détour ça vaut le coup en plus le village a gardé sa belle âme. j’aime beaucoup

il né reste pas grand chose de cette abbaye aujourd
né reste que 2 tours, ayant ete bombardee pendant la guerre. c est un refuge pour les pigeons aujourd hui.

The ruined façade of this famous abbey is visible for miles around, and forms a significant landmark on the plains north of Arras. Access is via a lane off the D341 road north of Arras.
According to legend, St Eloi, bishop of Tournai and Noyon, founded a community here in the 7^th century. One of his disciples, Saint Vindicien, Bishop of Arras and Cambrai, was buried on this spot and a shrine and monastic community became established around his relics. Around 1208, the Abbot Richard rebuilt the church in the latest gothic style, and on a grand scale.
In 1750, work began to remodel the abbey in the classical style, but alas it all came to nothing when the French Revolution resulted in its closure in 1791 — its last Abbot suffering the humiliation of the guillotine. Fortuntately, the Civic authorities of the Department acted to preserve the façade when the rest of the church was demolished in 1836.
Tragically, the towers were used as a look-​out post in the First World War, and suffered from bombardment and the loss of their upper storeys in 1915. Nevertheless, the remains are still impressive, if only by virtue of their size and location, and it makes for a wonderful detour from the D341 to admire the views of the surrounding countryside.
When we visited, the ruins were surrounded by an extraordinarily large number of ducks: destined, no doubt, for some splendid culinary fate…