Notre-Dame of Beaufort monastery, Dominican monastery in Plerguer, France

Notre-Dame of Beaufort monastery is a Dominican convent in Plerguer, Ille-et-Vilaine. Its buildings, on the grounds of the former Beaufort castle, stand against a wooded hillside: a long two-storey range of rough reddish-brown stone with a dark slate roof and three dormer windows, a taller block with two small spires, and a lower wing with a conical-roofed turret and an arched opening. The nuns built their chapel at the north end of the main building.

The buildings belonged to the Beaufort castle estate. On the death of Marquis Xavier Louis Marie Félix Gouyon de Beaufort in 1945, the castle and lands passed to a religious congregation in 1950, which transferred them in 1963 to the Dominican sisters. Under Father Charles Mellet, four nuns from Carpentras and Aix-en-Provence founded the monastery. Restoration, carried out in successive campaigns, was completed in 1996.

The monastery belongs to the Dominican Order and follows the liturgy of the hours, with Matins at 6:30 and Lauds at 7:15. Some nuns play the kora, a West African harp introduced to Europe by Benedictine monks of Keur Moussa in Senegal. Others paint icons, make liturgical vestments or cook jams; the community has recorded four CDs of liturgical music sold in the shop.

The shop in the south wing of the main building opens daily from 2:30 to 5 pm and is closed on Mondays; it sells the sisters' jams, icons, liturgical vestments, postcards and their four liturgical CDs. Mass is at 11 am on Sunday and 9 am on weekdays, with times liable to change, so check the monastery's website before coming.

Some nuns play the kora during the offices, a West African harp introduced to Europe by Benedictine monks of Keur Moussa Abbey in Senegal. The community has also recorded four CDs of liturgical music, sold in the monastery shop.