Déols

Déols is a commune in the department of Indre in the Centre-Val de Loire Region of central France.

Déols is an ancient town with a famous Benedictine abbey: Abbaye Notre-Dame-du-Bourg-Dieu. Today it is somewhat overshadowed by the nearby city of Châteauroux, which faces it across the river Indre.

It preserves a fine Romanesque tower and other remains of the abbey church, once the most important in the duchy of Berry.

History

Gallo-Roman vestiges confirm the age of Vicus Dolensis, but it was only during the Middle Ages that, through the princes of Déols and Chauvigny, and the pilgrimage to the tomb of St Ludre, Déols acquired its significance. In 470 the Visigoths defeated the army of Riothamus there, the victory carrying with it the supremacy over the district of Berry.

The Benedictine abbey was founded in 917 by Ebbes the Noble, lord of Déols. In the 10th century Raoul of Déols gave his castle to the monks of the abbey and transferred his residence to Châteauroux. For centuries this change did not affect the prosperity of the place, which was maintained by the prestige of its abbey, which was rebuilt aboiut 1150 on a floorplan that was larger than the cathedral of Bourges; its dependencies, both churches and priories, were extended through seven dioceses. A gateway flanked by towers survives from the old ramparts of the town. The parish church of St Stephen (15th and 16th centuries) has a Romanesque façade and a crypt containing the ancient Christian tomb of St Ludre and his father St Leocade, who according to tradition were lords of the town in the 4th century. There are also interesting old paintings of the 10th century representing the ancient abbey.