Chelles Abbey

About

Chelles Abbey (French: Abbaye Notre-Dame-des-Chelles) was a Frankish monastery founded around 657/660 during the early medieval period. It was intended initially as a monastery for women; then its reputation for great learning grew, and when men wanted to follow the monastic life, a parallel male community was established, creating a double monastery.

The abbey stood in Chelles near Paris (Seine-et-Marne department) until the disestablishment of the Catholic Church in 1792 during the French Revolution, and was destroyed. The abbey housed an important scriptorium and held the advantage of powerful royal connections throughout the Carolingian era.