17. Saint-Wandrille-Rançon to Duclair

The parish church, dedicated to Saint Michael, is said to have been built around 735 with materials from Roman monuments in Lillebonne.
In the 9th century, this building was destroyed by Vikings during their raids in the Norman countryside. The building was rebuilt in wood and then in stone in the 11th century. The bell tower is square with its faces provided with a semi-circular semicircular bay with a central column and a cubic capital spread out at the corners. The nave was rebuilt in the 16th century.

Thierry III (654-691) king of Neustrie, son of Clovis II, gave the island of Belcinac to Saint Condède, monk of the abbey of Fontenelle. The latter built a monastery there between 650 and 670. In 675, he donated the island and the monastery to the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille de Fontenelle. As with the establishment of the Abbey of Jumièges, which you will discover during your next stopover, the movement of Luxembourg monasticism will be the spiritual link between all the monastic foundations in the Seine valley. According to some historians this succession of foundations in the Seine can be interpreted as a rampart to the advance of Breton monasticism.

Notre-Dame de Jumièges Abbey was founded by Saint Philibert, son of a Frankish count.
It was part of the monastic foundations on the banks of the Seine during the 7th and 8th centuries. The majority of these foundations were part of the Luxovien movement during the first century of their creation. Philibert donated his lands to the Rebais monastery, north of Brie, founded by Saint Agil with the help of Saint Eustaise, successor of Saint Colomban at the head of the Luxeuil monastery. Philibert made a name for himself within his community as he was elected abbot of Rebais. He travelled to share the life of the monks of several monastic foundations in Luxeuil before stopping around 654 on an estate of the royal tax office in Jumièges to found his monastery. Like all the monasteries he visited at that time, he placed his brothers under the rule of the "good fathers Benedict and Colomban" until the Council of 818, which imposed on all the monasteries of the Carolingian Empire the rule written by Benedict of Aniane, composed of the precepts of Benedict of Nursia, Saint Colomban of Luxeuil, Saint Pacôme and Saint Basil.
The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Jumièges marks the apogee of Norman monasticism in the Seine valley, preserves the largest and earliest of the great Norman abbeys, is the only one that has remained faithful to the multiplicity of sanctuaries of the very ancient Carolingian monasticism and is one of the keys to Norman Romanesque art where the articulation between Carolingian and Romanesque architecture is most visible.

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The beautiful parish church of Jumièges, close to the abbey, was built in the 12th century and extensively rebuilt in the 16th century. The interior thus offers a curious mix of Romanesque and Renaissance elements full of charm. Its name recalls the abduction of the relics of Saint Valentine attributed to the monks of Jumièges. It contains elements of decoration and furniture from the abbey, such as the beautiful set of stained glass windows in the choir. The transept has remained unfinished. A temporary bell tower was built in the 16th century and is still visible today. The portal had been redesigned at that time. It is surmounted by a basket-handle arch.

The wave of construction of abbeys also seems to have reached Ducler (medieval name of Duclair) since a division made by Saint Ouen, between Saint Philibert and Saint Wandrille, reveals the existence of a Saint-Denis abbey in Duclair in 671. This would have been destroyed by the Vikings in the 11th century. But as this is the only mention of this abbey here, it could only be an important church.
On a triangular square stands the parish church dedicated to Saint Denis, bishop of Paris and martyr, which dates partly from the 11th and 12th centuries. Facing the calvary stands a pretty little Renaissance portal. The right chevet with three gables dates from the 14th century. The 15th and 16th century stained glass windows have been restored by Max Ingrand.

At Duclair you can cross the Seine with a ferry. The banks of the river present two different landscapes. On the right bank the town of Duclair with its businesses and its Seine riverside promenade embellished with beautiful Norman houses and the left bank devoted to agriculture and natural sites.