Abbaye de Lérins

The island, which was already known to the Romans, is named after Saint Honoratus, who retired to the uninhabited island around 410 to live as a hermit. Soon after, however, many of his disciples settled here and soon formed a monastic community.

Already about 20 years later, the monastery was large and St. Honorat wrote a rule whose first draft, the "Rule of the Four Fathers", was the first of its kind in France.

In the 5th and 6th centuries, the monastery attracted monks who ensured its prestige. Saint Patrick studied here before embarking on the evangelization of Ireland. Saint Quenin, bishop of Vaison-la-Romaine, was also a monk here. Saint Loup de Troyes, Saint Jacques de Tarentaise and Saint Apollinaire also came from this abbey.

At the end of the 6th century, the monks adopted the rule of Benedict of Nursia. In the following centuries, the monastery was raided at different times by Saraszen troops. Around 732, five hundred members of the community were massacred on the island by the invaders. One of the few survivors, Saint Elenthère, built a new monastery on the ruins of the old one.

Around Lérins joined the Cluniac reform. The monastery benefited from numerous donations and spread throughout Provence, where a hundred priories were founded.

During the Middle Ages, the monks were obliged to take an active part in defending the coasts against incursions of the Moors of Algeria, and a fortified monastery was built. The island became a very popular place of pilgrimage during this time.

In 1400, the island was sacked by Genoese pirates.

The abbey was an important strategic position during the Franco-Spanish wars. In 1635 the island was captured by the Spanish and the monks were expelled. They returned from exile two years later, when the island was retaken by the French. The monastery continued to suffer from Spanish and Genoese attacks. The number of monks dwindled to four and the monastery was disestablished in 1787. In the French Revolution, the island became the property of the state, and was sold to wealthy Mademoiselle de Sainval, who lived there for twenty years.

In 1859, the island was bought by the Bishop of Fréjus. Ten years later, a Cistercian community was founded, which has remained there since.


Around 1070 the construction of a fortified tower started, to serve as a refuge for the monks from the repeated attacks. Other developments were added to the initial tower. The basement, excavated in the 11th and 13th centuries, has cellars used to store the monks' food, as well as an oil mill and a bread oven.

In 2021 the tower was under renovation, so we could not see the two cloisters inside.