THE GIFT OF CHARLEMAGNE
It was founded in 804 as a Benedictine hermitage under the abbey of Aniane: a modest “community”, on the will of William of Orange, Count of Aquitaine, a relative and councillor of Charlemagne. It became an abbey in the early 10th century, and expanded rapidly thanks mainly to the fame of its founder and also due to the presence of a famous relic: the Splinter of the Holy Cross, a gift of Charlemagne. Which attracted pilgrims directed to Santiago of Compostella.
It was almost totally re-built in the 11th century by the abbot Peter I, the church and monastery taking on modern day form, becoming a famous meeting point for the nobles of Languedoc, who collected here before embarking on Crusades into the Holy Land.
The abbey prospered until the 15th century, when its income declined drastically in favour of the bishopric. The decline was further promoted due to the wars of religion, both church and monastery being plundered by the Huguenots in 1569. Despite attempts at restoring monastic life, under the reformed Benedictines of Saint Maur in the 17th century, the abbey however never recovered, and when it was split up during the French Revolution in order to sell it, little remained of its past glory.

A PLUNDERED CLOISTER
Access to the 11th century nave is by means of a magnificent portal, decorated with Roman Arches of Triumph. The apse and transept which are slightly at the rear, house the precious Reliquary of Saint William and that containing a fragment of the Holy Cross.
Beneath the apse is a crypt, which is the only remaining part of the original Pre-Romanesque church. The external decoration of the apses and smaller apses is elaborate.
The cloister which, at one time, was on two levels, has clearly been affected by the passage of time. Two sides exist, with fine Romanesque arcades. Many of its sculpted pillars and capitals are today to be found in the Cloisters Museum of New York.

RENUNCIATION OF WORLDLY GLORY
This abbey features a delightful mix of nature, art, history and legend and is without doubt one of the most beautiful in Languedoc. The setting was isolated and wild when William of Orange chose it as the place in which to end his days in solitude and prayer. William a noble warrior, who had succeeded in winning legendary battles against the Gascons and the Saracens, was 48 years old when he came here, and had already experienced all possible worldly glory. It was said that he came here as the result of his deep grief for the death of his beloved wife Oriabel. However such choices were not uncommon at this time, in fact the abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa and the foot of the Pyrenees of Rossiglione, contains the tomb of Pietro Orseolo, a Doge of Venice, who renounced worldly honour and glory to become a hermit (see Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa).