Founded in 1101, the enormous monastic complex at Fontevraud once served as a monastery, nunnery, hospice, leper colony and home for fallen women (housed in the Mary Magdelan wing). It has since done time as a state prison, so 19thC additions outnumber the original buildings, but the soaring Romanesque abbey church has survived. The church contains the tombs of Plantagenet kings and queens including Henry II, Richard the Lion-heart (who died at Chinon), and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Once believed to be a chapel, the octagonal mid-12thC kitchens are an unusual relic of medieval domestic architecture with vast fireplaces for smoking fish and meat. During the summer season, the Centre Culturel de I’Ouest puts on concerts in the church.