Exceptional interior decorations

It rises majestically along the edges of the small town that now bears its name: Lonlay-l’Abbaye. Founded in the early 11th century by Guillaume de Bellême, who brought monks in from the prestigious Fleury Abbey, now known as Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, the abbey had an immense wealth of land and priories, including on the other side of the English Channel. War and fire damaged it on several occasions, until the bombings of 1944.
A particular calm and a special atmosphere of reverence can still be felt on the large square built where the old cloisters once stood. In the heart of the monastery, the old dormitory building remains, with Gothic window openings from the chapter house on the ground floor. Around the buildings, a walk in the small garden offers a lovely view of the chevet of the abbey church.

The abbey church, now the parish church, is the only part open to visitors. Rebuilt on several occasions in the 11th and 16th centuries, it includes some very interesting decorative elements and furnishings: Romanesque capitals with original decorations from the late 11th century, and large, extremely refined stone altarpieces from the 17th century. The Gothic capitals that surmount the pillars of the nave are curiously decorated with animal heads, all different, perhaps depicting bats.