Abbey of Saint-Gilles Abbey of Saint-Gilles The Abbey of Saint-Gilles (French: "Abbaye de Saint-Gilles ") is a monastery in Saint-Gilles, southern France. Founded by Saint Giles, it is included in the UNESCO Heritage List, as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. According to the legend, it was founded in the 7th century by Saint Gilles, over lands which had been given him by the Visigoth King Wamba after he had involuntarily wounded the saint during a hunt. The monastery was initially dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul: however, in the 9th century, the
Abbey of Saint-Remi the great abbey at Reims lie in a little 6th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Christopher. The abbey's success was founded on its acquisition of the relics of St. Remy in 553; subsequently gifts poured in upon it from pious donors. By the 9th century the abbey possessed about 700 domains and was perhaps the most richly endowed in France. It seems probable that secular priests were the first guardians of the relics, but were succeeded by the Benedictines. From 780 to 945 the archbishops of Reims served as its abbots. At the abbey Charlemagne received Pope Leo III. In 1005