Val Abbey [SEP] religious order
Val Abbey
Val Abbey (Abbey of St Mary of Val) ("Abbaye Notre-Dame du Val") was a Cistercian abbey in Mériel and Villiers-Adam in Val-d’Oise, 30 kilometers north of Paris. It was the oldest Cistercian foundation in Île-de-France, dating to 1125, more than a century before the neighbouring Royaumont Abbey and Maubuisson Abbey. It was demolished and used for building stone in 1822 and 1845, leaving it mostly in ruins, though some of its buildings survive,
house of Igny Abbey. Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey was inhabited by a religious community for centuries; it prospered and became powerful. The abbey's chateau served as the summer palace of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The abbot Simon de Harlez, Val-Saint-Lambert's sponsor, canon of St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège, and adviser to the Prince-Bishop, began an expansion project in 1750, funded by his coal earnings. It was completed before 1796 when the monks were expelled as a result