Chelles Abbey, Merovingian abbey in Chelles, France
Chelles Abbey was a Benedictine monastery originally founded as a women's community and later expanded into a double monastery with a nearby male community. The complex included residential buildings, a church, and various workshops, with only fragments remaining visible today.
The abbey was founded in 657 by Queen Bathildis, wife of King Clovis II, on the site of an earlier Merovingian royal villa. It grew into an influential medieval center before suffering destruction during the French Revolution.
The scriptorium functioned as a center where nuns created and copied important religious texts that spread throughout medieval Europe, making it a knowledge hub.
The remaining structures are now integrated into the local government buildings in the center of Chelles and can be partially viewed while walking through the town. It helps to explore the area slowly to discover the scattered historical elements.
The Chelles chalice, a masterwork of early medieval metalwork crafted by Saint Eligius, was lost during the French Revolution. This object symbolized the high level of craft skill achieved in monastic workshops of that era.
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