The ruined Cistercian abbey of Villelongue

Deep in the Languedoc countryside, the former Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Villelongue stands today as a ruin. Between 1145 and 1149, a monk from the abbey of Morimond named Guillaume settled on the Montagne Noire to found a monastery. The site flourished and its power grew in the early 13th century, with the reconstruction of the Cistercian-style church beginning in the middle of the 13th century and continuing until the beginning of the 14th century. The church underwent several extensions and elevations during this period, while the plague epidemics of the 14th century led to its decline.

The abbey is characterized by its beautiful and rich sculptures. The oldest monastic buildings date from the end of the 12th century, while the southern gallery of the cloister, which survives today, dates from the beginning of the 14th century. These sculptures can be compared to those of the cloister at the abbey of Saint-Papoul. In 1568, the abbey was pillaged by Protestants but was not destroyed. It was later sold as national property in 1791 to a wealthy doctor from Saissac, Guillaume Boussac, who transformed it into an agricultural estate.

Today, the site is divided into two parts: the abbey open to visitors and a group of dwellings located at the site of the former abbatial residence, which was transformed in the 19th century. The ruins of the abbey are protected as historical monuments, a status granted in 1916. The site remains a testament to the region's monastic history, preserving the architectural legacy of the Cistercian order.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons