Sainte-Marie Abbey From Ireland to the kings of France

A first church, Sainte-Marie, existed from the 11th century. In 1119, its canons, from regulars, became secular, and formed a community under the authority of the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris.

The monastery, destroyed during the Revolution, extended to the north of the church. It is majestic, standing opposite the castle which was long owned by the Orleans family, heir to the throne of France.

Its current name evokes another story, through Saint Lawrence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin who died in Eu in 1180 after a long conflict with Henry II Plantagenêt, King of England and Duke of Normandy. The important pilgrimage created around his relics will require extensions from the end of the 12th century. Outside, its important three-storey chevet is representative of the flamboyant architecture of the 15th century.

“I have seen bigger, I have seen higher, but I have never seen more beautiful”, said of her Viollet-le-Duc, who proceeded to the restoration of the walls of the nave, of the side facades. and buttresses in the years 1860-70.

It retains a famous Entombment, an important statuary group which has retained its polychromy. In the transept is placed the silver reliquary containing the skull of Saint Lawrence O’Toole.

Among the items of furniture, opposite the pulpit, it is worth noting the presence of an 18th century work bench, a fine carpentry work surmounted by a canopy decorated with valances and supported by two caryatids.

But the most important feature is the vast 12th-century crypt which houses the tombs of the Artois family, whose marble recumbent figures are so many masterpieces of late medieval sculpture. There is also that of Saint Laurent O’Toole, probably one of the oldest preserved in Normandy.