Moving right along the wonderful Loire valley and encoutering new towns new discoveries of my belle France! The supply is endless and the beauty constant, as we drove on the D751 road to Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt. Let me tell you what we found here, nice architecture and history I like!
Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt is in the department 37 of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre-Val de Loire region. Saint-Benoît, located 40 km of Tours . The parish of Saint-Benoît de la Mort is found in documents in 1290 and 1298, due to the demise of a fief in 1146. When King Louis XI visited this town in March 1479, it was still called Saint-Benoît-du-Lac-Mort. Indeed, the town was located 150 meters north of the Lac-Mort stream. During the French revolution, the town became Benoît-le-Bois and then again Saint-Benoît. Finally, according to a prefectural decree, the appellation became Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt in 1936.
Here you have the Saint-Benoît Church, rebuilt in 1877, and whose sacristy is in the choir of the previous church, dating from the 13C and 15C, It is next to the mairie or mayor’s office building and was closed. But we came for the Abbey of Turpenay
The Abbey of Turpenay is located in a clearing between Saint-Benoît and Rivarennes. Founded in 1127 by Foulques the Younger, Count of Anjou, part of its buildings date from the 15C, another from the 17C. François Rabelais quotes it under the name of Abbey of Thélème, Honoré de Balzac mentions it under the name d’Abbé de Turpenay in Les Bons propos des nuns de Poissy (The good words of the nuns of Poissy), and in Sur le moyne Amador or on the Moyne Amador who was a glorious abbot of Turpenay, two of his Hundred Funny Tales. First organized around a wooden church, it acquired a stone building from 1134, under the action of Hugh, Archbishop of Tours. . In 1199, the abbey would have benefited from a large donation from Eleanor of Aquitaine, on the occasion of the death of her son Richard the Lionheart, Henry I Clement Marshal of France of Philippe Auguste was buried there in 1214, after his death in Angers. Rebuilt in the 14C, the monastery was suppressed during the French revolution, when it had only two monks left. Only a few buildings remain, including the abbey dwelling.
The city of Saint Benoit la Forêt on its heritage: https://www.saintbenoitlaforet.fr/index.php/culture-loisirs/st-benoit-dans-l-histoire/179-chap00-st-benoit-a-travers-l-histoire
There you go folks , another dandy road warrior ride in my trips to the Loire valley, an endless reservoir of beautiful architecture and history of my belle France. Hope you enjoy this off the beaten path trip to Saint Benoît la Forêt.
And remember, happy travels, good health and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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