Les Eglises de la Communauté de Paroisses
St Benoit de Bouzonville

Association Autour de l'Abbatiale
            The association “Autour de l’Abbatiale” (Around the abbey-church literally translated) which created and manages this website is pleased to guide you on a virtual tour of the church of Bouzonville.

            Mr. Jean-Pierre Prouveur who is a member of the S.H.A.N* is the author of the texts written in June 1996.  The English translation was performed by Ms. Aurélie Melchior.

* S.H.A.N (Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie des Pays de la Nied):  Committee dedicated to studying and promoting the local history of the Nied country.  The Pays de Nied or Nied country is the area of Bouzonville and its surroundings, crossed by the river Nied.


Eugène Schmit
Download the pdf of the tour

Download the pdf

A PLEASANT SITE


un site agréable
The abbey is wonderfully located in the lower valley of the Nied on a small rise from which the weak slopes go down to the river.  Archaeological data suggest that the site was already occupied in Celtic, Gallo-Roman and Ancient times.

A CHAPTER OF HISTORY


Foundation:

Around 1029-1030, the Count of Metz, Adalbert II of Alsace, and his wife Judith decided to build a monastery in Bouzonville.  Adalbert who had gone on a journey in the Holy Land returned bearing a fragment of the True Cross.  The relic served as a dedication to the new monastery which became the Sainte-Croix (Holy Cross) abbey of Bouzonville.  The bishop of Metz consecrated it on January 31, 1033.

Burials:

According to the texts, the Count Adalbert was buried in the church chancel, his wife Judith in the middle of the monastery, their son Gérard was buried next to his father and his wife Gisèle in the chancel of Saint Peter chapel.  Gérard and Gisèle got two sons.  One of them, Gérard II of Alsace (1048-1070) became the first hereditary Duke who founded the House of Lorraine.  Whenever works were undertaken, the church basement revealed a series of tombs whose bodies unfortunately could not be identified.  That is why, the church of Bouzonville is said to be the first necropolis of the House of Lorraine.

Destructions:

The founders' church was destroyed around 1340 throughout struggles between the Duke of Lorraine and the bishop of Metz.  The church was quickly rebuilt on the same foundations; the chancel was finished in 1345 and the whole building certainly before the end of the 14th century.

In May 1684, a fire devastated the cloister and destroyed the roofs of the church and that of the three bell towers.  The monastic buildings were rebuilt twice as big and the collateral north was repaired (keystones dating back to 1691.)

Several times, the church came very close to total ruin.  Wars of the 17th Century left it in an outdated state after some pillaging.  The turmoil of the Revolution transformed the church into a Temple of Reason, then into a hay barn and a forge.  Closer to us in time, the last World War hostilities left it without any roof or stained glass windows.

But each time the church has revived.

The Relic:

Despite some vicissitudes, Adalbert’s relic crossed the centuries until the Revolution when it was burned.  In 1912, the parish got a new relic. la relique

continuation of the visit


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photos anciennes, gravures  etc... n'hésitez pas à nous contacter.


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