Founded in 1123 as Locus Dei, Loc-Dieu Abbey rests in the Aveyron region of France. The site was formerly known as Locus Diaboli due to the large number of dolmens surrounding it, but the monks renamed it to mean the "place of God".
The abbey was burnt down by the English in 1409 and rebuilt and fortified in 1470. During the French Revolution in 1793, the abbey was suppressed and its assets sold off as national property by the French government. The Cibiel family bought the abbey in 1812, and their descendants still live in it today.
In the summer of 1940, paintings from the Louvre, including the Mona Lisa, were hidden in Loc-Dieu to keep them safe from German troops. The buildings were restored in 1840 and 1880, and the abbey and its large park are now open to visitors.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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