Abbaye Saint-Louis-du-Temple de Vauhallan, Benedictine monastery in Vauhallan, France
Abbaye Saint-Louis-du-Temple de Vauhallan is a Benedictine monastery on the Saclay plateau with a rectangular cloister surrounded by residential buildings. The monastic church features stained glass windows, while the complex includes spaces designed for daily community life and prayer.
Founded in 1816 by Louise-Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé as a Benedictine priory at the Temple in Paris, the community moved to rue Monsieur in 1848, was raised to an abbey in 1932, and settled at Limon in Vauhallan in 1951. The foundation stone was laid on 10 June 1950 by Angelo Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, and the abbey church was dedicated in 1957. In 1967 the community founded Notre-Dame-de-Fidélité Abbey in Jouques.
The abbey's name comes from the Temple estate given by Louis XVIII to the community founded in 1816 by Louise-Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé. The nuns keep a shop selling craft goods from Benedictine convents and are known for their bookbinding workshop, which restores old bindings. Since 2014 the community has published a bulletin titled Les Sentiers de Limon.
The abbey stands at the hamlet of Limon, on the via Turonensis route to Santiago de Compostela, and takes pilgrims and retreatants as guests. The former château of Limon now serves as a home for elderly residents and passing guests. The shop sells craft goods from Benedictine convents, and the binding workshop restores old bindings.
The abbey holds two museums: one on founder Louise-Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé, daughter of Louis V Joseph de Bourbon-Condé and a member of the family of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, with souvenirs of the king and queen; the other on Geneviève Gallois, who drew and made the church windows.
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