. Founded ca. 654 by St. Filibert, the abbey of Notre-Dame de Jumieges (Seine-Maritime) is today a splendid ruin, its fantastic skeleton defining the skyline by the Seine. Despite being abandoned (14th c.), sacked (16th c.), and used as a quarry (18th c.), much of Notre-Dame, along with its neighbor, Saint-Pierre, and other ecclesiastical buildings survive.
Jumieges (Seine-Maritime), Notre-Dame, nave ruins. Photograph courtesy of Whitney S. Stoddard.
A murky history of the early abbey reveals significant ties to the Carolingian dynasty. In 841, Vikings burned the town. Eventually, the dukes of Normandy funded the reconstruction of the abbey churches of Saint-Pierre (completed 990) and Notre-Dame (1037-66) on their original 7th-century sites. Although the adventures of William the Conqueror postponed the dedication of Notre-Dame for a year, to 1067, the Conqueror brought English land and monastic ties to the abbey. The signature of austere, imposing strength common to other Norman buildings is particularly indelible at Notre-Dame. Free from embellishments and figural sculpture, variations in pierced and blind arcades highlight the sides of the western octagonal towers. A single, plain portal and great barrel-vaulted tribune projects one bay between the towers. Within the now roofless nave (which was originally timber and painted), a three-story elevation with arcade, triforium, and clerestory marches on alternating rectangular compound and columnar piers. Only the west wall of the transept tower records its original great height. Apart from the northwest wall of the north transept, very little of the transept arms survives. The east end was rebuilt in the 13th century (1267-78), but archaeological evidence suggests that the 11th-century transepts ended in apsidal chapels and the choir had an ambulatory with-out radiating chapels. A few figural capitals are in the abbey museum.
A passage and chapter house join Notre-Dame and Saint-Pierre. The western wall and two bays of Saint-Pierre date to the 10th century, and the rest of the structure is 13 th-century. A second-story wall passage at the west end and rectilinear east end contains the long, aisleless nave. Of conventual buildings at Saint-Pierre, the 12th-century chapter house, lodgings, and cellars remain.
Founded at the beginning of the 12th century, the parish church of Saint-Valentine held relics of its patron saint from Jumieges. A fagade pierced by six windows leads to the srx-bay nave with plain arcade, clerestory windows, wooden roof—all Romanesque— and 16th-century choir. The nearby church of Yainville belonged to the monks of Jumieges and shares its 1 1th-century date. Although comparatively small, the church shares an imposing central tower and solidity with Notre-Dame.
Stacy L. Boldrick
“Jumieges.” Congres scientifique du Xllle centenaire. 2 vols. Rouen, 1955.
Michon, Louis Marie. “Jumieges.” Congresarcheologique(Roueri) 89(1926):587-609.
--, and Roger Martin du Gard. L ’abbaye de Jumieges. Paris: Laurens, 1927.
Musset, Lucien. Normandie romane. 2 vols. La Pierre-qui-vire: Zodiaque, 1967.
Taralon, Jean. Jumieges. Paris: Cerf, 1955.
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