Saint-Hilaire - Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire

An abbey, dedicated to Saint Saturnin, first bishop of Toulouse, is mentioned already in 825. In 870 the relics of Saint Hilaire, who had evangelized the region in the 6th century and was the first bishop of Carcassonne were "translated" to the abbey.

During the Albigensian Crusade the monks were accused of heresy - and the abbey got looted. It got re-established, but the plague and the Hundred Years' War caused more difficulties to the abbey and the village around it. The fortifications erected at that time did not prevent severe damages during the Wars of Religions.

After a period of decline, the abbey closed in 1748, since then the church served the parish of the village.

The cellar was the place, where the monks produced wine. Excavated out of the sandstone, the cellar is ideal with its regular temperture and a high level of dampness.

It is widely believed that the world's first sparkling wine, named "Blanquette", was created in 1531 by the monks in the cellar of the Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire. "Blanquette de Limoux" produced by the "méthode ancestrale" is available all over the Languedoc.