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Abbaye de Chaalis

Romantic ruins

By Emma-Jane Browne

August 21^st, 2020

Abbaye royale de Chaalis

Founded in 1127 by King Louis VI of France, known as 'the Fat', or more elegantly, 'the Fighter', to honour his desceased cousin, Charles of Flanders, murdered during a revolt in Brugge, Chaalis is an abbey only 40kms from Paris. The king even tried to rename the place Caroli Locus after him (Charles' place), but it didn't stick.

The current ruins are what is left of the gothic abbatial church built during the 13th century, which was one of the largest churches of the Cistercian order in France.

While several French kings gave the abbey their patronage, and stayed there several times, it slowly declined over the centuries. To regain some influence during the 16th century - and king Francis I's favour, abbot Hippolyte d'Este commissioned italian painter Primaticcio - one of France's most famed artists of the time - to decorate the small Saint Mary's chapel.

Sadly, by the 18th century, the abbey, already in a terrible state of disrepair suffered the fate of many religious buildings during the French Revolution. It was largely dismantled and used as a stone quarry.

It was later bought by art collectors, who preserved what was left and turned the manor house into a museum to house their collections, and in the early 20th century it was bequeathed to the Institut de France.