Abbey of Notre-Dame d'Yerres

Notre-Dame d'Yerres Abbey stands in the town of Yerres, in the Essonne department, a short distance southeast of Paris. Despite its name sometimes being linked to the Cistercian tradition, the community that lived here for nearly seven centuries followed the Rule of Saint Benedict, making the site one of the best-preserved former Benedictine convents in the Île-de-France region.

When and why was the abbey founded?

The convent was built between 1124 and 1132, during the tenure of Bishop Stephen of Senlis, on land donated by a local benefactress, Eustachie de Corbeil, who gave four arpents of ground for the project. The first nuns who settled there were not a single displaced community but a mix of women left without a home after the closure of the abbey of Sainte-Marie in Argenteuil - once led by Héloïse - together with religious women arriving from monasteries in Champagne and Picardy. The new foundation gave these wandering nuns a permanent home dedicated to the Virgin Mary and organized under Benedictine rule.

From its founding until the French Revolution, the abbey was governed by a long line of abbesses, numbering more than forty over the centuries. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries brought serious financial strain, weakening the community well before the political upheaval that would end it. In 1792 the nuns were forced out, part of the buildings was destroyed the following year, and what remained was divided into lots and sold off.

What still stands today?

Only a handful of structures survive from the original monastic complex: the sixteenth-century dormitory building, and the abbess's residence together with the pharmacy building, both raised in the eighteenth century on older sixteenth-century foundations. The dormitory, rebuilt between 1520 and 1537, is a long hall roughly sixty metres by ten, covered by an oak roof frame considered one of the most valuable surviving features of the site. The door of the former refectory, also dating from the sixteenth century, is another notable remnant.

The complex holds recognised heritage status: the refectory door has been protected as a historic monument since 1928, while the abbess's house, dormitory, and pharmacy building were added to the supplementary inventory of historic monuments in 1996. Between 2008 and 2009 the surviving buildings underwent a major restoration and were converted into apartments, a project that reconciled the preservation of a rare regional landmark with new residential use.

Visiting hours and contact

The site can be visited during limited hours: Mondays from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and again from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm. It is closed to visitors on other days. For information, call +33 9 73 32 14 21.

Frequently asked questions

Was the Yerres abbey a Cistercian house? No. The community followed the Rule of Saint Benedict rather than the Cistercian observance, and its abbesses governed it as a Benedictine house until the Revolution.

Who founded the abbey? It was founded through a land donation by Eustachie de Corbeil during the episcopate of Stephen of Senlis, to house nuns displaced from other convents, including Argenteuil.

Can visitors go inside the buildings? The former abbey buildings were converted into private apartments after a 2008-2009 restoration, so access is limited to the posted opening hours.

What is the highlight of a visit? The sixteenth-century oak roof frame of the dormitory and the old refectory door are the most notable surviving architectural features, alongside the abbess's house and pharmacy building.