Abbey of Montmajour

Montmajour Abbey

Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Montmajour
Montmajour Abbey
Location within France
Monastery information
Full name	Abbey of Saint Peter of Montmajour
Order	Benedictine
Established	949
Disestablished	1798
Dedicated to	Saint Peter
Diocese	Arles
Controlled churches	Chapel of the Holy Cross
People
Founder(s)
Architecture
Functional Status	secularized
Heritage designation	National Historical Monument
Designated date	1840
Architect	Pierre II Mignard (Maurist monastery)
Style	Gothic and Neoclassical
Site
Coordinates	43°42′20″N 4°39′50″E / 43.70556°N 4.66389°E / 43.70556; 4.66389Coordinates: 43°42′20″N 4°39′50″E / 43.70556°N 4.66389°E / 43.70556; 4.66389

Montmajour Abbey, formally the Abbey of St. Peter in Montmajour (French: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Montmajour), was a fortified Benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 18th centuries on what was originally an island five kilometers north of Arles, in what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône Department, in the region of Provence in the south of France.

The abbey complex consists of six sections:

The abbey is noted for its 11th–14th-century graves, carved in the rock, its subterranean crypt, and its massive unfinished church. It was an important pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages, and in the 18th century it was the site of a large Maurist monastery, now in ruin. The abbey and the landscape around it were frequently painted and drawn by Vincent van Gogh.

Today the ruins of the abbey are cared for as a historic monument by the Centre des monuments nationaux.

Until the late Middle Ages, Montmajour was an island, 43 meters above the surrounding terrain, protected by marshes and accessible only by boat. As early as the 3rd millennium BC the island was used as a cemetery, with individual graves carved into the rock. In the 9th and 10th centuries the island also served as a sanctuary for the local residents during invasions of the Saracens and the Normans. During the Middle Ages, several legends arose about Montmajour and its founding. One legend said that the island had been the sanctuary of St. Trophimus, who had been sent from Rome by St. Peter to convert the Gauls. After coming to Arles in 46 AD, he took shelter in one of the caves on the island and received disciples there. A rock cell under the church is called "The Confessional of St. Trophimus." Until 943 the island belonged to the Church of St. Trophime in Arles.