THORONET, abbey of. — Ancient Cistercian abbey in the diocese of Fréjus, in the department of Var, France.
On 14 April 1136, Raimondo di St-Gilles summoned several Cistercian monks from the abbey of Majan (diocese of Viviers) to found an abbey in the territory of Tourtour, near the Floreya River, in the diocese of Fréjus. The monastery, which took the name Notre-Dame de Florièges in 1147, received gifts from Raimondo Berengario the Elder, marquis of Provence. The abbey was later moved six miles away, to the place called T. in the Var, and Ildefonso, son of Raimondo, king of Aragon, confirmed its possession and enriched the monastery with privileges; it flourished especially during the 11th and 12th centuries.
The church, in pure Cistercian architecture, was begun ca. 1160 and completed ca. 1190; it has three naves, three bays, and was inspired by that of Morimond, with a semicircular apse illuminated by three windows; there are apsidal chapels in the transept. The façade has no central door. The cloister and monastic buildings are north of the church. The cloister, contemporary with the sacred building, is trapezoidal, following the slope of the hill; between the southern gallery, which is almost level with the church, and the others there is a difference in level overcome by seven steps; the northern and western galleries are later than the church; except for the northern one, the other three had an upper storey with round-arched arcades. The sacristy, the library, the chapter house, and the adjoining rooms were erected ca. 1170–1200; the dormitory ca. 1200; a cell for the bell-ringer was also built. West of the cloister were the service buildings and cellar, as well as a special building for the lay brothers and an oil mill.
In the 18th century, the bishop of Riez and commendatory abbot, Monsignor Philippeaux, separated the choir with gates, clad the walls in marble, and transformed the windows into niches containing statues of SS. Lorenzo and Bernardo and of the Madonna with Child (this group was brought in 1806 to the church of Lorgues). In 1793 the abbey was suppressed and sold. In 1841 its restoration was decided upon. In 1854 Prospero Merimée reacquired the church and a large part of the monastery. During the restorations begun in 1878, the ancient windows were reopened and the gates removed; the work was resumed in 1906 by J. Formigé and F. Roustan. — Vedi tav. III.