On a promontory above the bay, since the Merovingians…
The soul of this place — peace, listening, inner freedom — is revived. At the crossroads of the Dukes' route from Caen and the Via Angelica from Monte Gargano in Italy, sacred voices rise.
“Saint Léonard, free me from every evil bond and give me the strength of Charity.”
“Grant us to see the bonds that chain us and the bonds that set us free.”
Stone arcades — Norman monastic architecture
Born in 540 to a Frankish family close to Clovis and entrusted with the prisoners of the kingdom of France, Leodovald — the 'Lion of the Forest' — became the first bishop of Avranches in 578. He ended his life as a hermit in Limousin and gave his name to this land, inhabited since prehistory by fisher-gatherers. His devotion spread across Europe and he became the patron saint of prisoners.
Born in 1027 in Falaise and died on 9 September 1087 in Rouen, William the Conqueror — whose fief comprised a manor, salt marshes, fishing and seaweed harvesting — gave the estate upon his death, in 1087, to the Benedictines of the abbey of Saint Étienne in Caen, the 'Abbey of Men'. The monks built a priory there. The site became the last stop for pilgrims to Mont Saint Michel — attested since 1025.
The commendam system marked the decline of the priory in the 17th century; the monastic community left the site, which was then maintained by a local farmer. Confiscated as a national property during the Revolution, it was acquired by a private owner and turned into a farm.
During the Second World War, the Wehrmacht installed an observatory atop the former bell tower. In June 1944, the Poilvillain de Misouard family took over the site, anxious to honour the Norman duke's gift to the Benedictines. The priory was listed as a Historical Monument in January 1970.
From 1975 onward, a project was born to bring the place back to life in the spirit of its roots. Restoration began in the 1980s. The old farm was demolished, giving way to the chapel; the bell tower, turned into a dwelling, was restored; the venerated statue of Saint Léonard was restored.
On 29 August 2024, the bell Saint Anne — after journeys between the French Navy, Morocco and Normandy — found her name and her vocation at the priory.
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From 2 to 4 July 2027: three days of Liberation, Light and Unity. Conferences, ostensions, procession to the Mount, twinning with the abbey of San Leonardo of Foggia.
Accès rapide depuis l'écran d'accueil, scan QR le jour J, fiche d'émargement hors-ligne.
