The former abbot of this abbey, Dom Guéranger, arranged in the early 19th century for the Solesmes monks to collect and preserve what remained in oral or written form of the original Gregorian chants. When I discovered on their website that these Benedictine monks still sing these Gregorian chants several times each day I decided to visit!

To locate Solesmes on a map start with Paris, go southwest to Le Mans, then west to Sablé sur Sarthe. Solesmes is slightly east of Sablé sur Sarthe. If you are traveling by train, Sable sur Sarthe is the closest stop to Solesmes. It is a two mile taxi ride to the abbey.

Solesmes is a small, quiet, charming town on the banks of the Sarthe River. As far as I could tell, the abbey is the focal point of the town. I had expected the abbey to be overrun with tourists, but on the June day we visited we didn’t see a single tour bus or any apparent tourists. We attended two services; at one there were only about eight people in the congregation; at the other there were close to twenty. Despite their many excellent CDs of Gregorian chants, including one made in 1976 that received a Grammy Award nomination, the monks are very clear that their chanting is worship -- not a concert or a performance. The public is welcome to attend their services, which include Gregorian chanting, at 10 am (Holy Mass), 1 pm, 1:50 pm, 5 pm (vespers, with different times on Thursdays), and 8:30 pm Compline.

If you love Gregorian chants I can think of no better place to hear them.

History

This abbey opened in 1010. It was pillaged twice and nearly destroyed by fire during the Hundred Years War. The community managed to rebuild itself after the Hundred Years War, but in 1790, in the wake of the French Revolution, religious vows were outlawed. The monks of Solesmes were forced to disperse. In 1792 villagers saved the monastery's most prized relic, a thorn from what is believed to be the Crown of Thorns retrieved from the Holy Land. This relic was returned to the monastery in 1850.

In 1833 Dom Prosper Guéranger instituted a Benedictine monastic life on the site of the old priory at Solesmes, after forty years of abandonment due to the French Revolution. He seized upon the restoration of Gregorian chant with enthusiasm and placed the task of restoring the authentic melodies into the hands of his monks.