Abbaye Saint-Martin de Vertou, Benedictine abbey gateway in Vertou, Loire-Atlantique, France

Abbaye Saint-Martin de Vertou is a former Benedictine monastery in Vertou, western France, of which only the entrance portal remains standing today. This gateway was registered as a historic monument in 1971 and sits at the center of the village, between the parish church and the town hall.

The monastery was founded in 576 at the site of Saint Martin de Vertou's hermitage. In 843 Abbot Raimbold fled with his monks from a Viking attack toward Saint-Jouin de Marnes, and the abbey stood pillaged and empty until 985. A 1123 charter of King Louis le Gros calls it the most important monastery in the diocese of Nantes. The surviving porch is not part of the original abbey, which has entirely disappeared, but a later construction dated 1650 by its plaque.

The surviving porch is not part of the original abbey, which has entirely disappeared; it was built in 1650 on the site of the Carolingian abbey, as the plaque set into its wall states. It was restored in 1981 with the participation of the people of Vertou, called Vertaviens. The porch stands between the Saint-Martin church and the town hall.

The porch stands in the middle of the bourg, between the Saint-Martin church and the town hall, on the square of the same name. It belongs to a private property, so it is seen from the public square and the boundary is not crossed. The plaque on the left wall gives the construction date, 1650, and the 1981 restoration.

The surviving porch is not part of the original abbey, which has entirely disappeared; it was built in 1650 on the site of the Carolingian abbey, as the plaque set into its left wall states. The same plaque records its restoration in 1981 with the participation of the Vertavians.