Abbaye de l'Escaladieu (Bonnemazon)

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The abbey was founded in 1142 when the Cistercian monks living in Capadur in the Gripp valley, on the slopes of the Tourmalet left this first mountainous site too difficult for everyday life. Escaladieu was founded at the confluence of the Luz and Arros in Bonnemazon near the Château de Mauvezin. Very flourishing from the 12th to the 14th century, the abbey was the burial place of the Counts of Bigorre. It was a stopover on the roads to Compostela.
In the 12th century, she was at the head of the southern Cistercian influence and fathered two abbeys in the Gers: Flaran and Bouillas (the latter has disappeared), and eight in Spain including Fitero, Sacraménia and Véruéla.
The buildings
The abbey is in a refined Romanesque style. It obeys the purist wishes of the spiritual project of the Cistercian order and reproduces the so-called "bernardin" plan. Its design reflects the composition of a hierarchical community. Between the monks from the nobility and the lay brothers from the peasantry, the separation appears clearly. These brothers who worked the fields during the day were not paid.
the chapter room
The cloister was reserved for monks. Its open galleries served rooms arranged in a square:
sacristy, chapter house, scriptorium, boiler room, refectory and kitchen. It surrounded a free space, the courtyard, a place of meditation and meditation. This cloister was dismantled and probably sold in 1830.
In the scriptorium located in the south wing, the monks did their work this copyist and adorned their manuscripts with illuminations. They were warming up in the heater opposite.
abbey scriptorium
The east wing of the buildings is still intact. It houses the chapter house or chapter room. It dates from the end of the 12th century. This is where the monks gathered to read the chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict. With its ribbed vaults, it represents a unique arrangement in France. The nave of the abbey had six bays, the first was demolished during the wars of religion.
The abbey was sold as national property in 1793. Until 1986 it belonged to the same family. On this date, it was bought by an association. In 1997, it became the property of the Hautes-Pyrénées General Council, which has since undertaken a vast restoration program (bell tower, abbey church).
During the summer, activities take place in the abbey grounds (artist exhibitions, cinema, theater, music). Every two years, a major exhibition is organized by the General Council: in 2003/2004: “the Spanish Republicans in the Hautes-Pyrénées” in December 2005: “the Haut-Pyrenees: a human adventure”.