





For the sainted bishop who preached the good word here
Saint Fromond, Bishop of Coutances, founded a monastic community here around the year 650 and was buried on site upon his death. His tomb became a pilgrimage site, and his name was given to the monastery. After the first monastery was destroyed in Viking raids, a Benedictine priory associated with Cerisy Abbey was built on the site. The church, built in the 12th century, had its choir rebuilt in the 15th century in the Flamboyant Gothic style; the Romanesque nave was destroyed in the 18th century. All that remains of the original Romanesque church is the cylindrically shaped apse and the main gate of the old nave.
Imperilled during post-D-Day fighting in the summer of 1944, the church was saved by the parish priest Father Morel, who expended great efforts to preserve it and have it restored. The pretty church, now protected, continues to tower over the plains of the Vire Valley.
Some interesting 15th-century elements are of note inside the church, such as the baptismal fonts, a Madonna and Child, two altar pieces and the tombstone of Prior Joachim of Mathan.
The main gate of the old nave includes a sculpted Saint Andrew’s Cross. Visitors from the town of Guardia Sanframondi (Campania) have seen in it the origins of the Sanframondo family, a powerful clan in Italy from the 13th to 15th centuries whose coat of arms included the Saint Andrew’s Cross.
opening |
---|
Open everyday from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. |