Loc-Dieu Abbey

Founded in 1123{{cite book

|title=Lalanne/dict France V2

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFHRr52RU9MC&pg=PA1149

|accessdate=10 October 2010

|publisher=Ayer Publishing

|language=French

|isbn=978-0-8337-1984-3

|page=1149}} in a place formerly called Locus Diaboli (Latin for "devil's place") due to the large number of dolmens around it, it was renamed Locus Dei in Latin by the monks, which in French became Loc-Dieu, both meaning the "place of God".{{cite book

|last=Champollion-Figeac

|first=Aimé Louis

|title=Droits et usages concernant les travaux de construction, publics ou privés, sous la troisiemse race des rois de France: palais, châteaux, cathédrales ...: De l'an 987 à 1380, d'après les chartes et autres documents originaux. Extrait de la Revue archéologique

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3lJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA332

|accessdate=10 October 2010

|year=1860

|publisher=A., Leleux

|language=French

|page=332}}

Burnt down by the English in 1409, it was rebuilt in 1470, and the abbey was fortified.{{cite book

|title=Mémoires de la Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l'Aveyron

|url=https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdelasoci107unkngoog

|accessdate=10 October 2010

|year=1879

|publisher=imprimerie E. Carrère

|language=French

|page=394}}

The abbey was suppressed and its assets sold off as national property by the French government during the French Revolution in 1793. The Cibiel family bought it in 1812, and Cibiel descendants still live in it today.{{cite book

|last1=Monod

|first1=Gabriel

|last2=Bémont

|first2=Charles

|last3=Charléty

|first3=Sébastien

|author4=Pierre Renouvin

|author4-link=Pierre Renouvin

|title=Revue historique

|url=https://archive.org/details/revuehistorique115krakgoog

|accessdate=10 October 2010

|year=1893

|publisher=Presses universitaires de France

|language=French

|page=[https://archive.org/details/revuehistorique115krakgoog/page/n150 439]}}

The buildings were restored in 1840 (the east wing) and in 1880 (the south and west wings).

In the summer of 1940, paintings from the Louvre, including the Mona Lisa, were hidden in Loc-Dieu to keep them safe from German troops.{{cite book

|last1=Wagner

|first1=Margaret E.

|last2=Kennedy

|first2=David M.

|last3=Osborne

|first3=Linda Barrett

|author4=Susan Reyburn

|title=The Library of Congress World War II companion

|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofcongres0000wagn

|url-access=registration

|accessdate=10 October 2010

|date=2 October 2007

|publisher=Simon and Schuster

|isbn=978-0-7432-5219-5

|page=[https://archive.org/details/libraryofcongres0000wagn/page/180 180]}}

The abbey and its large park are now open to visitors.

• Church: built between 1159 and 1189, the church remains intact. This is one of the first Gothic buildings in southern France, designed by architects from Burgundy. Cistercian rules are followed, i.e. the greatest simplicity possible, with no decorations other than the stone and light.
• Cloister and Chapter room: rebuilt in 1470, they replaced the previous Romanesque cloister. They present a strong Gothic style.

File:Abbaye de Loc Dieu - 01.jpg

File:Abbaye de Loc Dieu - 06.jpg

File:Abbaye de Loc Dieu - 07.jpg

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Abbaye de Loc-Dieu}}

• {{Official website}}

• More pictures : [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311114220/http://www.cister.net/images/gallery/index.php?album=lcd&%2F cister.net]
• Pictures from the sky: [http://www.photothequegaud.com/index.php?rep_cible=ABBAYES%20et%20PRIEURES/Cisterciens/33-FRANCE/12-140%20-%20Loc-Dieu/12-140%20-%20Loc-Dieu%20AER&pg=1/ Photothèque Gaud]

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Category:1123 establishments in Europe

Category:1120s establishments in France

Category:Cistercian monasteries in France

Category:Buildings and structures in Aveyron

Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1120s

Category:Churches in Aveyron