The
Abbaye aux Dames is a former abbey in
CaenCaen is a commune in north-western France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region...
,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, northern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, now home to the Conseil Régional de Basse Normandie. It includes the church now known as the Église de la Sainte Trinité.
The abbey was founded in the late by William the Conqueror and his wife
MatildaMaud Le-Vieux crowned Matilda of Flanders was Queen consort of the Kingdom of England and the wife of William I the Conqueror....
as the
Abbaye aux Dames ("Abbey of Women"), together with
Abbaye aux Hommes ("Abbey of Men"), now church of Saint Etienne.
The
Abbaye aux Dames is a former abbey in
CaenCaen is a commune in north-western France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region...
,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, northern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, now home to the Conseil Régional de Basse Normandie. It includes the church now known as the Église de la Sainte Trinité.
History
The abbey was founded in the late by William the Conqueror and his wife
MatildaMaud Le-Vieux crowned Matilda of Flanders was Queen consort of the Kingdom of England and the wife of William I the Conqueror....
as the
Abbaye aux Dames ("Abbey of Women"), together with
Abbaye aux Hommes ("Abbey of Men"), now church of Saint Etienne. The works began in 1062, starting from the rear and finished in 1130. Matilda, who died in 1083, was buried in the choir under a slab of black marble.
The original spires were destroyed in the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
and replaced by less striking balustrades in the early 18th century. The vault was demolished and rebuilt in 1865. The nuns were chased out of the premisses during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
and returned in 1820. The church was last restored between 1990 and 1993.
Architecture
The façade has two large towers on the sides, each with doors leading to the aisles. The pediment of the central bay echoes the nave roof. The tympanum of the central portal depicts the Trinity and the four apocalyptic beasts, symbols of the Four Evangelists.
The nave is flanked by pointed arches surmounted by a gallery (
triforiumA triforium is a shallow gallery of arches within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave in a church or cathedral. It may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory. It may itself have an outer wall of glass rather...
) which supports the
groin vaultA groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...
, the first of this type built in Normandy (1130). The
transeptFull descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.
For the periodical go to The Transept....
, in the centre of the church, houses the altar. The northern transept is in
Romanesque styleRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
, opening over a small
apsethumb|250px|Triple apse of [[Basilica di Santa Giulia]], northern [[Italy]].In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
(the chapel of the Holy Sacrament) which houses the
tabernacleA Tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . It is to be distinguished from a less obvious container, set into the wall, called an aumbry.-History:...
. The southern transept is characterised by
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
columns integrated within the Romanesque decoration.
The choir ends with an apse decorated by four columns and a gallery with fantastic figures. Also present is a
cryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
in honour of Saint Nicholas.
External links
Abbey chronology Abbaye aux Dames