Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Romanesque Senanque Abbey

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Romanesque Senanque Abbey with flowering lavender , Gordes, Provence, France. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Romanesque Senanque Abbey with flowering lavender

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Photos of the Romanesque Senanque Abbey France ( Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque).

Senanque Abbey

Senanque Abbey is a picturesque Cistercian Abbey tucked away in a deep valley below the village of Gordes in the département of the Vaucluse in Provence. Founded in 1148 by Bishop Cavaillon and Ramon Berenguer II, count of Barcelona and Provence, the Romanesque abbey was laid out following the lines of Citeaux Abbey, the mother house of the Cistercians.

The rule of the Abbey was austere for the monks with the only heated room in the monastery being the scriptorium. This allowed the monks to create the precious books that were commanded s great value in the medieval world.

The Cistercian Rule

A simplicity of the Romanesque architecture is embellished only by simple leaf bas relief sculptures. By the 14th century Senanque had four mills, seven granges and possessed great estates in Provence.

Decline & Closure of Senanque

From this date though the Abbey went into decline and in the late 1500’s it was ransacked by the protestant Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. By the time of the French Revolution in 1789, Senanque Abbey only had one monk left and, like many Abbeys in France, it was closed and its lands nationalised.

Run by Cistercian Monks Again

In 1854 the Abbey was repurchased by Cistercian monks again who started to grow Lavender and tend bees to make honey. Today Senanque is one of the most picturesque and evocative Romanesque buildings in Prevence.

The Abbey is approached in the summer through blooming Lavender fields. The Lavender grows right up to the Abbey creating one of the iconic views of Provence.