Jumièges Abbey

Jumièges Abbey and the Seine share a relationship as winding and close as the meanders of the Seine itself. According to the Legend of the “Enervés” of Jumièges—the founding myth of the abbey—the river chose the site for the abbey’s foundation by washing ashore on this stretch of the bank the rebellious sons of Clovis II at Jumièges. Whether as a trade route for monks transporting their poor wine to England or a path to freedom for the slaves whom the monks freed at the monastery, the river was highly beneficial to the abbey. However, it could also prove dangerous by providing a waterway for the men from the North—the Vikings—in search of plunder or land. An integral part of the abbey’s history, this connection remains very close today, with the park serving as a sanctuary for flora and fauna protected under the Natura 2000 program.