Heaven’s gate

“…it is called Heaven’s Gate, the Palace of the Lord. Gold and silver sparkle all around.” This widely admired monastery was built, legend has it, from the trunk of a fig tree in which the Precious Blood of Christ had been hidden and which miraculously washed ashore on the beach of Fécamp. In homage to this holy relic, the site became one of the first pilgrimages in Normandy, and an abbey for nuns was founded there in the late 7th century. From the 11th century onwards, Benedictine monks settled there, at the instigation of the Duke of Normandy and under the leadership of the first abbot, Guillaume de Volpiano, the famous reformer of Cluny.

The abbey church today bears witness to the importance of Fécamp Abbey, which enjoyed royal protection and whose authority extended over many possessions in Normandy and beyond. This large Gothic structure, of exceptional length (127 metres), has interior decorations from the 15th and 16th centuries that are of particular interest. These include the tabernacle of the Precious Blood, the sculpture of the Dormition of the Virgin, and the magnificent Renaissance gates that enclose the chapels around the choir.