Visit the abbey's cabinet of curiosities

The abbey's attic hides a veritable cabinet of curiosities, exceptionally open to the general public one Saturday a month from April 19 to December 20, by reservation only.

On the plan of the abbey he drew up in 1870, archaeologist Edouard Aubert mentions a "museum" located in what is now the porter's office and the small parlor. Although Aubert says nothing about the appearance of the museum in question, it is highly probable that it took the form of a cabinet of curiosities.
Indeed, the diversity of the abbey's collections, combined with the abbey's traditional educational mission, argue in favor of the deployment of such a space within the monastery's walls as early as the modern period (16th-18th centuries).

What is a cabinet of curiosities?
According to dictionaries, a cabinet of curiosities is a piece of furniture or a place where unusual objects are displayed. These objects, whether samples of the natural world or manufactured instruments, are intended for both study and aesthetic enjoyment.
The cabinet of curiosities began to develop in Renaissance Italy in the late 15th century. Gradually, it became an ordered space, structured into four sections: naturalia (or "things of nature"), i.e. naturalized animals; scientifica, i.e. instruments of physics or mathematics; artificialia, i.e. things created by man (antiques, works of art, weapons and coins); and exotica, i.e. plants and animals from distant lands.
The cabinet of curiosities is therefore a place of erudition and self-reflexivity, where one withdraws to meditate. Paradoxically, it is also a place of sensations, where the history of the world is experienced through the marvels it offers us.

The place you're about to discover seeks to reproduce this ambivalence: you'll find a heap of objects, often strange, sometimes familiar, whose variety traces the history of the abbey from the 16th century to the present day. Together with the archaeological site and the treasure trove, the cabinet of curiosities offers a unique visiting experience, at the end of which you'll leave with a complete overview of the history of the house.

The cabinet of curiosities is not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Access is limited to a maximum of 20 people, by prior arrangement with the abbey.

Visits are scheduled at 1:45pm on Saturdays April 19, May 24, June 21, July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18, November 29 and December 20, 2025.

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