I am on my road warrior mode again, and again in the beautiful Centre Val de Loire region with many visits. These are all firsts amazing abundance of marvelous places to see in my belle France. This was not planned but passed by it so many times decided to take a peek of the town of Seuilly famous to house the François Rabelais museum. As usual nice places to be found to add to my collection of travels spots. Hope you enjoy the posts as I.
Seuilly is in the department 37 of Indre-et-Loire, in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It is 8 km from Chinon, 31 km from Saumur, and 312 km from my house. A very old town, famous for the two monuments to mention me think.
The Abbey of Seuilly is a former priory located in Seuilly Indre-et-Loire dept37 of the Centre Val de Loire region, The abbey was founded around 1095 by Guillaume de Montsoreau and became an abbey in 1100 under the name of Saint-Pierre then Saint-Sépulcre then Notre-Dame. Parts of it dates from the 12C to the 15C, It was partially destroyed by fire in 1461, and was restored by Princess Jeanne, bastard daughter of Louis XI. It was also on this date that the chaplain’s house was built.
François Rabelais born at about 600 meters at La Devinière, came to study there while the abbot was Jean de Bourbon. If the abbey still knew a flourishing period in the 17C, the construction of the chapel and the fuye attesting to it, it began to decline well before the French revolution. Legally abandoned in 1736 it fell victim to a hurricane on March 14, 1751, ruining the abbey church Today, from April to September, a Country House whose mission is to promote and sell local products ,and to welcome the public as a branch of the Azay Chinon Val de Loire Tourist Office, If you wish renting old buildings of the Abbey for a night, a weekend or even a week, it’s possible.
The La Devinière is a country house located as said about 600 meters from the abbey. It houses the Rabelais Museum, a member of the Federation of Writers’ Houses, labeled “Maisons des Illustres” and “Musée de France”. François Rabelais was probably born and spent his childhood there. La Devinière consists of a 16C dwelling, a 17C dovecote and outbuildings, The cellars were originally quarries where tuffeau stone was extracted to build La Devinière before they became stables, a troglodyte dwelling and wine cellars. The stunning space now houses temporary exhibitions.
From the years 1640-1650, the Rabelais family no longer lived in La Devinière. Alerted by Rabelais scholars, the department of Indre-et-Loire bought the house in 1948, The Association of Friends of Rabelais and La Devinière, created at the same time by Robert Vivier, founded the museum set up by the mythologist Henri Dontenville and opened it to the public in 1951, Since then, the literary museum dedicated to the work and life of François Rabelais has been managed by the Departmental Council of Indre-et-Loire partly with the collections of the above association.
Other things to see here is the Château du Coudray-Montpensier where some of the action of the Pichrocoline Wars takes place in Gargantua and where is said Rabelais to have resided in 1429. It is said to have subsequently belonged to the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck, then to the aircraft manufacturer Latecoëre.
The official Rabelais museum: https://www.rabelais-museum.co.uk/
The Association des Amis de Rabelais et de La Devinière : http://www.amisderabelais.org/
The town of Seuilly and its heritage : https://seuilly.fr/patrimoine-local/
There you go folks, this will be my introduction to Seuilly. There is so much to see here and so much architecture and history in the valley of the kings of France! I try to give you a taste of the region and Seuilly with the monuments cited above fits the bill as grand. Hope you enjoy it as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 