Abbaye Sainte-Anne de Bonlieu-sur-Roubion, Cistercian abbey in Bonlieu-sur-Roubion, France.
Abbaye Sainte-Anne de Bonlieu-sur-Roubion is a former Cistercian abbey whose Romanesque abbey church, built in the 12th century, survives in part; the church was largely rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. Rough grey and tan masonry, a tall square bell tower with arched openings and a low tiled roof topped by a metal cross, and a gabled section with two small round windows make up the façade.
The abbey was founded in 1171 by Countess Veronique de Marsanne as a community for Cistercian nuns under the oversight of Aiguebelle Abbey. Over time it changed hands and eventually gained recognition as a registered historical monument.
The abbey church, largely rebuilt in the late 19th century, was raised to minor basilica status by Pope Leo XIII and consecrated on 11 October 1899 by Thomas-Louis Heylen, bishop of Namur. Its dedication to Saint Anne is also carried by a 14th-century polychrome wooden group showing Anne with Mary and the child Jesus.
The abbey stands in the village of Bonlieu-sur-Roubion, in the Drôme department of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Romanesque abbey church, largely rebuilt at the end of the 19th century, was inscribed as a monument historique on 28 April 1999. The Premonstratensian canons left in summer 2014, and the buildings returned to the Diocese of Valence; access arrangements should be checked before travelling.
The abbey keeps a 14th-century polychrome wooden group of Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus, its original paint still in place. The source calls it a "trinitaire" statue, a three-generation image of the holy family. It is the oldest object the documents record at the site, older than the 12th-century Romanesque church remains.
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