Nîmes and Abbaye de Saint-Roman

On the way to Nîmes we stopped at Abbaye Saint-Roman. Dating from the 5th century, it is the only troglodyte monastery in Europe. Carved into the soft stone of a mountain top, it remained a monastery for a thousand years when it was converted to a fortress. Within three hundred years it was destroyed and abandoned. The main pastime of the troglodyte hermits seems to have been carving shallow graves into the stone and braving the elements. Fortunately for us the spring wild flowers were in bloom on our climb to the abbaye.

Looking into a portion of the carved out rooms that were the Abbaye.

Within a room, was a seat carved into the stone wall for the abbot and his faithful sidekick, the prior.

Graves that were carved into the stone.

Wild flowers galore!