The Abbaye de Fontevraud is one of the largest and best preserved medieval abbeys of France. It was founded in the 12th century by Robert d'Arbrissel who set up a Benedictine community of monks, nobles, nuns, lepers, vagabonds and repentant prostitutes. This rather radical founder entrusted the running of the abbey to an abbess, usually from a noble family. It thus became a favorite sanctuary for the female aristrocacy, including Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose stone coffin is also located here. From 1814 to 1963 the abbey was used as a prison; since then it has been carefully restored by the French government. The abbey church, consecrated in 1119, is famous for its carved capitals and the immense single nave with four domes - one of the best examples of that style in France. Besides Eleanor's painted effigy you will also find those of the other Angevins: Henry II of England, husband to Eleanor; their "crusading" son Richard the Lion-Heart; and Isabelle d'Angoulême, who poisened her husband King John.
Besides the above mentioned effigies my wife and I were most impressed with the octogenal kitchen with its fireplaces and chimneys in the Tour Evraud. Restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, it is a rare example of secular Romanesque architecture.