Abbaye de Vignogoul, Cistercian abbey in Pignan, France

Abbaye de Vignogoul in Pignan is a former Cistercian abbey whose church measures 32 metres long and 8 wide, with a single nave raised and vaulted in the 15th century on prismatic ribs. The choir, built around 1250, ends in a seven-sided apse lit by three windows, with a triforium and a polylobed oculus in the straight bay. Two spiral staircases lead to the triforium and roof space.

Founded probably between 1104 and 1128 under Gautier de Lille, bishop of Maguelone, the community is first mentioned in 1150, when Guilhem, lord of Pignan, left it plots of vines. A bull of Alexander III in 1178 suppressed the male community and attached the women definitively to the Cistercian order. Prior Élisabeth d'Alignan (1243–1256) had the monastery raised to an abbey in 1259, and the nuns left for Montpellier after 1622.

The abbey's name comes from the vines that Guilhem, lord of Pignan, left to the community in 1150, the first written mention of the house. The parish of Saint-Martin, destroyed by Protestants around 1621-1622, held its masses in the north apse of the abbey church afterwards. The nuns moved to Montpellier in 1683, and their chapel there was blessed on 30 June 1683 by Bishop Charles de Pradel.

The abbey stands in the countryside of Pignan, a few kilometres southwest of Montpellier, and is reached by road rather than on foot from the city. The church is 32 metres long and 8 metres wide, with a single 15-metre nave, so the interior is seen in one sweep from the entrance. The site now houses a children's home run by Franciscan sisters, so visits depend on their arrangements.

The abbey's name comes from the vines that Guilhem, lord of Pignan, left to the community in 1150, its first written mention. Prioress Élisabeth d'Alignan, in office 1243–1256 and sister of Bishop Benoît d'Alignan, had irrigation works, dikes and mills built on the estate. The church was restored in 1912–1913 by abbé Prévôt.