Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil

The first church was blessed in 1001, but, owing to the prosperity of the abbey, it was rebuilt from 1246 onwards. This building was severely damaged by a fire in 1361 during the Hundred Years’ War, and reconstruction began again in 1387; the church was consecrated in 1418, although it later suffered further serious incidents over time (1433, 1562, 1612, 1637...). The rebuilding of the church was never fully completed: only the chancel, with its apsidal chapels, and the transept were finished.

The monastery survived until the Revolution. In 1791, the site was sold; it later served as a hospital and, by the end of that same century, the church and part of the cloister had already been demolished. From 1828 onwards, the complex was partially occupied by a community of the Ordre des sœurs de Saint-Martin, which left the site in 2016, when it was put up for sale. The monastic buildings and dependencies have been profoundly altered and largely lost. The church has disappeared, although part of the cloister is still preserved. Most of the surviving buildings date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the medieval remains, particular mention should be made of the thirteenth-century cellar, adapted by the female community that occupied the site in more recent times.