Abbaye Sainte-Croix de Bouzonville, Medieval abbey in Bouzonville, France

Abbaye Sainte-Croix is a former Benedictine monastery whose surviving abbey church, rebuilt in Gothic style between 1342 and 1375, stands on a hillside above the Nied. Its large sandstone blocks vary from grey to red, and the high windows of the basilical nave were later walled up. The monastic buildings were rebuilt between 1692 and 1730, and a tower with a Baroque cupola was added over the portal in 1777.

An Alsatian count founded the monastery in the 1030s after returning from the Holy Land with a religious relic. The building underwent major reconstruction later, particularly in the 1300s, to take on much of its present form.

The abbey takes its name from a splinter of the True Cross that Count Adalbert II of Metz brought back from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1033. In the 18th century a pilgrimage around the abbey's cross relics grew, and a Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament was founded in the abbey church. The relic was destroyed after the Revolution.

You can visit the monastery in Bouzonville, with access typically free or available through guided visits. It helps to check opening times in advance, as availability varies depending on religious services and scheduled group tours.

The keystone of the choir vault, dated 1345, shows Christ on the cross flanked by a monk and Abbot Gutzon de Wiskirch, with an inscription naming him as builder. The first bay of the south aisle carries the arms of Abbot Gérard d'Esch, and the second nave keystone bears Abbot Arnould Wisse de Gerbéviller's coat of arms.