Plan your visit
Fontevraud-l'Abbaye is one of France’s prettiest villages — perfect for a slow stroll and a long lunch. Locate it on the map, book a room nearby in a click, or add it to your travel list to build your itinerary.
About Fontevraud-l'Abbaye
In the Anjou, on the borders of Touraine and Poitou, the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye grew up around one of the largest and most remarkable monastic complexes in Europe, the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud. Founded in the early 12th century and unusually ruled by abbesses, the vast abbey became the burial place of the Plantagenet dynasty: within its luminous Romanesque church lie the painted effigies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II of England and their son Richard the Lionheart. The immense ensemble of church, cloisters, chapter house and an extraordinary Romanesque kitchen, later used as a prison, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and now hosts a fine art museum and cultural events. Wrapped in the gentle countryside near the Loire, the village and its royal abbey form one of the great historic and architectural treasures of France.