Monastère de Solan

Monastère de Solan (in full, the Monastery of the Protection of the Mother of God) is a community of Orthodox nuns in the commune of La Bastide-d'Engras, in the Gard department of southern France. The sisters combine Orthodox liturgical life with organic and biodynamic farming on the land surrounding their monastery.

Where does the community come from?

The story begins in the Vercors mountains, where in 1978 Archimandrite Placide Deseille - a former Catholic priest who had spent time at the Simonopetra monastery on Mount Athos - founded the men's monastery of Saint-Antoine-le-Grand in Saint-Laurent-en-Royans. Women drawn to monastic life soon joined the community, forming a separate women's monastery dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God. As the sisterhood grew beyond what their small house could hold, they began looking for a larger home. In 1991 the nuns settled at Solan, on the site of a former farm once linked to a priory dependent on a Cluniac abbey, tucked into a small valley near La Bastide-d'Engras.

What is monastic life like today?

The monastery is currently home to somewhere between a dozen and twenty nuns, ranging in age from their twenties to their nineties, drawn from several different countries. The community follows the rule of Simonopetra, balancing communal and liturgical life with time spent alone in one's cell. Services are held in French but chanted according to Byzantine melodies, sung a cappella in keeping with ancient Eastern monastic tradition.

Why is Solan associated with biodynamic farming?

The sisters manage a sizeable estate: dozens of hectares of forest, several hectares of vegetable gardens and orchards, and several hectares of vineyard. Cultivation follows biodynamic and organic methods, rooted in a theology of respect for creation. The community also works with the association Les Amis de Solan, founded by Pierre Rabhi, a well-known French advocate of organic farming and agroecology.

Farm work yields products sold in the monastery shop and through outlets specializing in monastic goods: wine, vinegar, jams, fruit pastes, vegetable preserves, olive oil, and flavored salts. The monastery also sells books and icons.

What should visitors know before going?

Monastère de Solan sits off the beaten path, in a quiet valley in the heart of the Gard, a short drive from Uzès. It is first and foremost a place of prayer and work rather than a tourist attraction, so a visit is best planned in advance and paced to the rhythm of monastic life. Visitors can generally buy the sisters' products on site and, depending on the schedule, attend services.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the monastery located? In the commune of La Bastide-d'Engras, in the Gard department, in the Occitanie region of southern France.

What is the nuns' religious tradition? The community is Eastern Orthodox, following the monastic tradition of Mount Athos, though services are conducted in French.

Since when has the community been at Solan? The sisters settled at Solan in 1991; the community itself was founded a little earlier, in the Vercors.

What do the sisters do besides pray? They run a farm - growing vines, vegetables and orchard fruit using biodynamic methods - producing wine, preserves, olive oil and other foods.

Can visitors buy the monastery's products? Yes, Solan's products (wine, jams, olive oil, vinegar, flavored salts) are sold at the monastery shop and through networks specializing in monastic goods.