Abbatiale de Lérins

Abbatiale de Lérins stands on Saint Honorat, an island in the Lérins archipelago just off the coast of Cannes. Saint Honorat covers about twenty-two hectares within the archipelago. A walking path circles the island in roughly two hours, alongside vineyards, olive groves and historic chapels. The church occupies the site of a twelfth-century church and was consecrated in 1928.

Honorat founded a monastic community here between 400 and 410, beginning centuries of religious life. Saracen, Genoese and Spanish attacks led the monks to build a fortified monastery between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. Cistercian monastic life returned in 1869, while the modern monastery dates from the nineteenth century. Seven chapels stand across the island, and two rare furnaces for heating cannonballs remain at its ends.

Each Ascension Thursday, descendants of Cannes families renew an allegiance first made in 1448. A sung mass precedes a procession to Chapelle Saint Pierre, accompanied by traditional instruments. Participants present local products to the abbot during a ceremony held in Provençal and French.