Abbaye de Sainte-Hilaire, Menerbes
The abbey of Saint-Hilaire is a private building that has undergone substantial renovations
The remarkable architecture and sympathetic restoration work make this one of the best Carmelite abbeys in the Vaucluse region and one that is less frequently visited by tourists.
The land just outside Ménerbes, is a steep slope that overlooks the Luberon valley, and it was already a religious site when the Carmelite hermits arrived there. They lived in caves at first then, and once it was built, the abbey itself. A stone in the cloister marks the date of its construction: 1254.
An earthquake of 1909 - which caused widespread damage throughout the region - left the Abbaye Saint Hilaire with cracks and subsidence. And later that century the olive groves tended by the remaining monk were devastated by a harsh winter in 1956.
Now privately owned not much has remained of the monastic life. The previous owner had used the chapel as a barn, the refectory as a sheepfold and the kitchen as a stable. The abbey had also been divided into two due to a split legacy (this is common in France due to the country's rigid inheritance laws). A wall ran down the middle of the chapter house and the cloister, which was full of rabbit hutches.
Today it has been restored to some extent and is available to look around or take a guided tour or you can wander around yourself for free.
