Valbonne Abbey (Fr. Abbaye de Valbonne). The abbey of Valbonne (former abbey Notre-Dame) is a thirteenth century abbey located in Valbonne in the department of Alpes-Maritimes in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, France.
Today it is under the invocation of Saint Blaise.
In 1199, monks of the order of Chalais, coming from the Prads abbey of the diocese of Digne, settled in Sartoux of the diocese of Antibes, in the valley of Brague.
The bishop of Antibes Olivier authorized their abbot, Guillaume, to build a church. The latter left the Abbey of Prads to settle in Vallisbona. He led it until 1212.
Most of the abbeys of the Chalais order were in the mountains. The installation of an abbey near the Mediterranean could allow them to descend their sheep in winter in the valley of Brague.
The thirteenth century Romanesque abbey church, which became a parish church when the village was built, is the perfect example of Chalaisian art, close to primitive Cistercian art. The bell tower was added in the nineteenth century. Several chapels and oratories, in the village and in the countryside, complete the religious architecture.
Coordinates: 43° 38′ 26″ N, 7° 00′ 32″ E
Shortest distances by car
From Paris: 8 hr 55 min (912 km) via A6 and A7
From Marseille: 1 hr 57 min (177 km) via A8
From Nice: 40 min (31.8 km) via A8
From Toulouse: 5 hr 25 min (540 km) via A61, A9 and A8
From Monaco: 53 min (54.6 km) via A8
From Andorra: 7 hr 7 min (630 km) via A8
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