HAUTECOMBE. - The Cistercian abbey of H.-C., on the left bank of Lake Bourget (Savoy), founded in 1125 by Amadeus III of Savoy, served from then on as a burial place for the counts and dukes of Savoy.

It was rebuilt in 1743; sold as national property in 1792, it was turned into a majolica factory; it was bought back in 1824 by King Charles Felix, who restored the church and the monastic buildings, a work completed in 1843 by Queen Maria Christina. The facade of the church is in the Gothic style; the interior is entirely occupied by tombs, cenotaphs, and more than 300 statues in Carrara marble, Scyssel stone and gilded wood.

The high altar is adorned with paintings on wood from the 15th century; the frescoes of the dome (Gonino and the Vacca brothers) represent episodes from the life of St. Bernard. Among the tombs, notable are that of Claude d'Estavayer, abbot of H.-C. and bishop of Belley (first half of the 16th century); that of Louis I of Vaud and of his wife Joan of Montfort; those of Amadeus III, V and VI; and that of the blessed Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury. The adjoining cloister is still partly from the 16th century and contains many remains of funerary monuments. To the right of the church is the royal lodging. To the north, on the other hand, Charles Felix had a chapel built dedicated to St. Felix.

The monastery passed in 1922 to the Benedictines of St. Mary Magdalene of Marseilles.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: A. Manno, Bibliografia storica degli Stati della Monarchia di Savoia, VIII, Turin 1907, pp. 205-209; G. Perouse, Hautecombe, abbaye royale, Chambéry 1926; Cottineau, I, coll. 1385-84.

Enrico Josi

@incollection{ec6_haute_combe, author = {Josi, Enrico}, title = {Haute-Combe}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1376}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/haute-combe} }

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