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Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres

The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, built in the fields (pres) just beyond the outskirts of early medieval Paris, was the burial place of Merovingian kings of Neustria. The Abbey was founded in the 6th century by the son of Clovis, Childebert I. Under royal patronage the Abbey became one of the richest in France; it housed an important scriptorium in the eleventh century and remained a center of intellectual life in the French Catholic church until it was disbanded during the French Revolution. The tomb of philosopher René Descartes is located in one of the church's side chapels.

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