The Tour de Buzay

A history of Notre-Dame de Buzay Abbey...
 

MEDIUM-AGE

Duchess Ermengarde d'Anjou, mother of Conan III, Duke of Brittany from 1112 to 1148, was very pious.
On hearing that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was looking for a place to set up a monastery, she asked her son to donate his marshy lands on the island of Buzay to the monks of the Cîteaux order. Notre-Dame-de-Buzay Abbey was founded in June 1135. An initial community of around ten monks settled in the new abbey.

However, on his next visit a few years later, Bernard of Clairvaux was unhappy to find that the buildings on the site were not in the state that Conan III had promised to restore them to, noting that his monks were living in unhealthy buildings. What's more, the Duke of Brittany had even withdrawn some of the rights granted to the new abbey.
He ordered his monks to abandon the site and return to Clairvaux if the Duke of Brittany did not comply. Conan, confused, hastened to make amends by giving more than he had the first time (second foundation charter drawn up around 1143).

The meadows were fertile and the monks quickly grew rich. The initial concessions were confirmed by dukes and kings. Property increased considerably, either through donations or through acquisitions made by the religious community. As a result, Buzay Abbey became the wealthiest abbey in Brittany, and one of the ten richest abbeys in France.

The monks of Buzay owned a great deal of land in the Pays de Retz. They played a major role in the economic development of the region.

However, the War of the Breton Succession and the Hundred Years' War were detrimental to the abbey's trade. It had to sell parcels of land to the lords. The abbey was damaged in 1373.
Buzay Abbey became a commendatory abbey in 1474.

MODERN PERIOD

Buzay Abbey was rebuilt in 1755.
It was during this 18th century that the abbey enjoyed a period of great prosperity, calling on an engineer trained in the Poitevin marshes to reclaim the marshes. It was at this time that the Buzay canal was dug (between 1720 and 1775), to facilitate navigation between the Loire and Lake Grandlieu, by local lords: the Binet de Jasson.
As the canal was to cross the lands of Buzay Abbey, Father Abbot Lefèvre de Caumartin agreed to the creation of the Société du Canal de Buzay (Royal Order of 14 February 1713).

The abbey's wealth came from the income from its tenant farms and from salt production in the Baie de Bourgneuf.

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

The site was no longer maintained at the time of the Revolution. As the abbey had become national property, its assets were sold at auction (until 1805).
The liturgical furnishings of Buzay Abbey were dispersed:

During the Vendée wars, the premises were occupied by Republican troops, who used them as their headquarters. The Royalists attacked them and set fire to the buildings. The fire destroyed the entire abbey.

Today, all that remains of the abbey is this square tower, a former bell tower dating from 1755. It is the only visible vestige of the Cistercian abbey of Buzay, keeping alive the memory of this vanished site.

The site is private and not accessible. However, a guided tour is available during the European Heritage Days on the third weekend in September.