Abbey of St Pons

Abbaye de Saint Pons.

Abbey of St Pons also known as the Abbaye Saint-Pons de Nice is one of the oldest monasteries in the French Riviera, along with the Lérins Abbey. It is located in the municipality of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes.

Although originally much older, the church was rebuilt in 1724 in Baroque style. The church was classified as a historical monument of national importance in 1913, and the façades and roofs of the abbey and cloister were classified as being of regional importance in 1949.[1]

Legend of Founding

Abbaye Saint-Pons 1900.

We know about thirty manuscripts in both French and foreign libraries[2] with the oldest being 9th century[3] copies of 5th or 6th century.[4]

According to tradition, the Roman knight Pontius, the son of a senator,[5] converted to Christianity very early under the leadership of Pope Pontian (230-235). Upon the death of his father, Pontius became a senator. He gives his property to Pope Fabian (236-250) for distribution to the poor. Pontius left Italy and moved to Cimiez as the governor of Gaul. Latter the imperial policy of persecution of Christians arrives in Nice. Refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods, he is subject to execution. Several attempts at execution including thrown to two bears in the amphitheater and put to the stake are ineffective, he was finally beheaded on a rock overlooking the banks of the Paillon and his body pushed off a cliff. Valerius, who had been converted at the same time as Pontius, buries the martyr's body that night where it lies. Then, fleeing persecution, went by boat to Libya. Pons martyrdom is traditionally placed in 257 or 258AD.

File:Chapelle St Pons (1855)
Abbaye Saint-Pons (1782)

He was buried in a necropolis located at the site of the future abbaye. According to legend, his head rolled into the river and was carried away by sea to Marseilles, where the relic was taken in by the monks of the abbey of St. Victor. The supposed place of martyrdom stood on a rock overlooking the Paillon by a cliff on which subsisted until 1925, when it was destroyed.

References

  1. ↑ Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Pons, actuellement hôpital Pasteur, Base Mérimée
  2. ↑ C. Passet, 1977. Ces deux manuscrits sont le Codex Parisinus lat. 5299 conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, et la Passio Brevis d'Apt conservée aux Archives départementales du Vaucluse, sous la cote GII94. p16.
  3. ↑ C. Passet, 1977. Ces deux manuscrits sont le Codex Parisinus lat. 5299 conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, et la Passio Brevis d'Apt conservée aux Archives départementales du Vaucluse, sous la cote GII94.
  4. ↑ L'existence d'une famille sénatoriale à Rome, les Pontii, est attestée au IIe siècle. L'un de ses membres exerça la charge de consul en -144 et celle de magistrat à Orange par deux fois (source : C. Passet, 1977, p. 147).
  5. ↑ C. Passet, 1977, p. 147.

Coordinates: 43°43′30″N 7°17′00″E / 43.7250°N 7.2832°E / 43.7250; 7.2832

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