Abbaye de Bonne Combe

Bonnecombe Abbey (Bona Cumba; Notre-Dame de Bonnecombe) – not to be confused with Bonnecombe Nunnery – is a former Cistercian abbey in the Aveyron department, Midi-Pyrénées region in France. The abbey is located in the commune of Comps-la-Grand-Ville, about 15 km south of Rodez in the Viaur valley in the Brengayrenc forest.

The monastery was founded in 1166 or 1167 as a daughter house of Candeil Abbey by Raymond V, Count of Toulouse and Rodez, and Bishop Hugo of Rodez, and thus belonged to the filiation of the primary abbey of Clairvaux. It prospered until 1470 and had extensive possessions in eastern Rouergue and northern Albigeois, namely fourteen granges, including the granges of Lasserre-Bonnefon, Ruffepeyre, Bougaunes Is, Bar, Varcelles, Bernac Puechmaynade, Saint-Félix, and Pousthorny, as well as the priory of Saint-Hilaire. During the Hundred Years' War, the monastery was fortified. Already in 1470, it fell into commendam; one of the commendatory abbots was the later Pope Innocent VIII. During the French Revolution, the monastery, still inhabited by nine monks, came to an end in 1790 and fell into disrepair. However, it was re-settled in 1876 by Trappists from Aiguebelle Abbey, who restored the monastery, which was again elevated to an abbey in 1895, from 1889 and remained until 1965. Thereafter, various religious and social uses followed, until in 1980 the Communauté de l’Arche (of Lanza del Vasto) moved into the monastery. In 1998, the charismatic Communauté des Béatitudes (Community of the Beatitudes) moved into the monastery.