The Jumièges Abbey was described by 19th century historians ‘as the most beautiful ruins in France’, but these ruins were once a Benedictine monastery that originated in the seventh century. The abbey was pillaged and burned to the ground by the Vikings in the late 9th century, but a newer bigger abbey was rebuilt and consecrated in 1067 in the presence of William the Conqueror. An important religious and educational institution, it was destroyed during the French Revolution and the abbey was dissolved permanently.