Bernay Abbey

An absolute gem.

It's rustic and still standing.

The state of this abbey church is in the image of our poor country: an empty wonder. No longer a religious sign, nothing that manifests the reason for its existence, its finality: the cult towards the most worthy Woman in the world, the Mother of God. And yet, in this abandonment, the majesty of the place still reigns, for, despite the determination of men to suppress the divine, everything here reminds us of it in spite of ourselves. Poor of us so satisfied with our own existence, as if we owed it only to ourselves, that these stones persist in reminding us of where we come from and where we are going! Because the day they disappear, what will become of us?

I could only see it from the outside because it was closed. So I can't give a full review but the exterior architecture is already worth the detour

Beautiful Romanesque abbey. Free access. The purity of the architecture is exceptional. The domes and the renovated bedside are sublime.