Bonjour mes amis! Sunday, April 17, was a glorious spring day in France! Our friends, Joan and Gabriel Aurioles were visiting us from Boston. (former Richmonders) We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a boat trip from Aix-les-Bains across Lac du Bourget to the Abbaye De Hautecombe. This Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery and later became a Benedictine monastery. The origins of the Abbey lie in a religious community which was founded in 1101 in a narrow valley near Lac Bourget by hermits from another abbey near Lac Léman. In 1125 it was transferred to a site on the shores of Lac Bourget under La Dent du Chat (a fascinating mountain peak which is so named because it looks like the tooth of a cat!!) Amadeus, Count of Savoy, has been named as the founder of the Abbey. Apart from its exceptionally beautiful location, the chief interest of Hautecombe is that it was for centuries the burial-place of the Counts and Dukes of Savoy. Since Chambéry is the former capital of Savoy, this history has special meaning to us. Some 300 statues and many frescoes adorn the interior of the church, which is 215 feet long, and which has a transept 85 feet wide. While touring the interior of the church, we could visualize the monks at worship on Palm Sunday hundreds of years ago! Magnifique!!
Mme. Wallace
No comments:
Post a Comment