Airvault - Saint-Pierre

Saint-Pierre was the church of one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the Poitou, that was founded in 991 by Audéarde, the wife of viscount Herbert I of Thouars. The monastery was on one of the "chemins" of the Via Turonensis, so when the number of pilgrims increased, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine had this large church erected in two construction phases from the 12th century on. Standing in the nave of Saint-Pierre, facing east to the choir and the ambulatory. This church is really large and could surely host large groups of pilgrims. Many carvings can be seen from this pov.

When the era of the pilgrimage ended, the abbey declined and impoverished during the Hundred Years' War. Most conventual buildings were destroyed in the Wars of Religion. The abbey church now serves the parish.