THORONET, Abbey of. - Ancient Cistercian abbey in the diocese of Fréjus in the department of Var, in France.
Raymond of St-Gilles summoned on 14 April 1136 some Cistercian monks from the abbey of Majan (diocese of Viviers) to found an abbey in the territory of Tourtou near the river Floreya in the diocese of Fréjus. The monastery, which took the name of Notre-Dame de Florièges in 1147, received gifts from Raymond Berengar the Elder, Marquis of Provence. But then the abbey moved six miles to the place called le T. in the Var, and Ildefonso, son of Raymond, king of Aragon, confirmed the possession and enriched the monastery with privileges; it flourished especially during the 11th-12th centuries.
The church, of pure Cistercian architecture, was begun ca. 1160 and finished ca. 1190; it has three naves and three bays, inspired by that of Morimond, with a semicircular apse lit by three windows; apsidal chapels in the transept. The facade has no central door. The cloister and the monastic buildings are to the 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 at the level of the church, and the others there is a difference in level overcome by seven steps; the north and west galleries are later than the church; except for the north one, the other three had an upper storey with round arches. The sacristy, the Library, the chapter house and the annexes were erected ca. 1170-1200; the dormitory ca. 1200; the cell for the bell-ringer was also built. To the west of the cloister were the service rooms and the 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 Msgr. Philippeaux separated the choir by means of gates, covered the walls with marble, and transformed the windows into niches with statues of Sts. Lawrence and Bernard and the Madonna with the 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. Prosper Mérimée in 1854 reacquired the church and a large part of the monastery. In 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. - See plate III.
Bibliography3 works
Enrico Josi