The ruins of Jumièges Abbey impress by their scale and by their setting in a beautiful meander of the River Seine. In the abbey’s heyday, few religious establishments in France were more renowned, more powerful, or more charitable.
An eventful past
One of the oldest and most important monasteries in the West, Jumièges has had an eventful history. Founded in 654 by Saint-Philibert, a courtier of King Dagobert I, the abbey has been damaged many times, but its magnificent silhouette seems forever etched in the landscape. Destroyed by the Vikings in 841 and then during the Hundred Years’ War, its buildings were finally used as a quarry after the French Revolution. Stripped bare, its remains still exude a certain power. The remains of the cloister and convent buildings are dominated by the imposing 46-metre-high twin towers that surround the Romanesque façade of the building. The park and its century-old trees give full dimension to what Victor Hugo called “the most beautiful ruin in France”. Wrapped in white limestone, overlooking the banks of the Seine, it lives to the rhythm of the seasons, elegant and mysterious.
What to see around Jumièges Abbey
- Saint-Wandrille Abbey
- Villequier and the Victor Hugo Museum
- Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville et Saint-Georges Abbey