Mont-Saint-Éloi (; vls, Sint-Elooisberg) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Geography

Mont-Saint-Éloi is situated northwest of Arras, at the junction of the D341 and the D49 roads, on the banks of the river Scarpe.

Population

Places of interest

* The church of St. Joseph, dating from the sixteenth century. * The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

cemetery. * The eighteenth-century chateau d’Écoivres. * Remains of an abbey church, destroyed in 1783. * Two

menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...

s, known as the ''Twin Stones''.

Mont Saint-Éloi Abbey

The monastery was founded in the 7th century by Vindicianus, bishop of Arras and devotee of

Saint Eligius Saint Eligius (also Eloy, Eloi or Loye; french: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660 AD) is the patron saint of goldsmiths, other metalworkers, and coin collectors. He is also the patron saint of veterinarians, the Royal Electrical and Mechani ...

. The bishop was buried in the nearby Bois d'Ecoives, but his relics were subsequently removed to the Abbey Church of St. Joseph, which was enlarged in the 11th century. The abbey adopted the

Rule of Saint Augustine The Rule of Saint Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the Western Church. The rule, developed b ...

, and was the motherhouse of St. Botolph's Priory in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. The medieval buildings were demolished in 1750 to make way for a church and convent, necessitated by the aging and shallow foundations of the old abbey. During the Revolution, the monks left and the abbey was converted into a quarry and pillaged for the stone. What remained of the towers and facade serving as a military observation point during the First World War. In 1915 heavy shelling damaged the towers. It is a protected monument."Ancienne église abbatiale à Mont-Saint-Eloi", Monumentum, Carte des Monuments Historiques français
/ref> Image:Demoiselles.jpg, The menhirs Image:montsteloi.jpg, Menhirs Image:ecoivres01.jpg, Écoivres village Image:ecoivres02.jpg, Features on the church spire Image:Mont-Saint-Eloi-Aerien-VueSE.jpg, Aerial view of the countryside Image:Mont-Saint-Eloi-Aerien-Rue-du-General-Barbot.jpg, Aerial view Image:Mont-Saint-Eloi-Aerien-Abbaye.jpg, Aerial view of the abbey Image:steloi1.jpg, Towers of the abbey of Mont Saint-Éloi

References

External links