The village of Bonlieu grew up around the monastery, which is still in use today. The monastery church is in the romanesque provencal style.
The monastery is occupied by Norbertine nuns and more recently by “Prémontré” monks. In the 12th century, Saint Norbert began this religious order, which is sometimes called in English the Premonstratensians after the valley of Prémontré, near Laon in northern France, where it was founded. In the middle ages the building was a women's Cistercian abbey, which had been founded in 1171 on land donated by the countess of Marsanne. For some years, the parish of Saint Anne has grouped 38 surrounding districts into six Christian communities.
For many years the monastery operated a mill, using water from the river Roubion, and this continued until the 1960s. The mill produced nut oil and flour. The water was routed along a canal from Saint Gervais and passed under the river bed using a syphon. The stream also filled the convent's wash-house and irrigated the nuns' garden.
Towards the end of World War II, Bonlieu, like its near neighbour La Laupie, was at the centre of the Battle of Montélimar in August 1944. At one point, the village was on the front line between the Germans and the northward advancing Americans. Locals abandoned the area, which became a no man's land between the two armies.
A walk from the village leads to the Puyguillaumin hill, which has a panoramic view over the Marsanne plain and the foothills of the Alps.
Bonlieu-sur-Roubion
Code postal
: 26160
Mairie : 04 75 53 92 08
Fax : 04 75 53 95 15 Lundi - Jeudi - 8h30 à
11h30 Jeudi arpès-midi 14h30
- 17h 1er et 3e samedi du mois
8h30 à 11h30 Courriel
Nom
Provençal Bouanlio su Roubioù Histoire
Bonus Locus (1170)
Habitants : 384
Altitude : 160
m
Latitude : 44N.35.38
Longitude : 4E.52.52
Culture
Juillet à septembre Musiques au Monastère
Concerts - Choeurs - Spectacles
Animations Mai - Spectacle équestre
du Galop du Roubion
Juin ou juillet : vide-grenier
Octobre ou novembre :
Bourse aux jouets
Activités Agriculture
Hôtellerie du Monastère - Gîtes
