Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes () is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes, Sarthe, France, famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. The current abbot is the Right Reverend Dom Abbot Geoffrey Kemlin, O.S.B., elected in 2022. Parish Prior to the foundation of Solesmes Abbey, a parish existed at the site. This parish may have been founded at the site as early as the 5th century. Evidence also suggests that the site may first have been built upon in the 6th or 7th century. This original parish was surrounded by a large cemetery. Sarcophagi found at the site suggest that they may go back to the Merovingian period. These sites are still preserved to this day. Priory Solesmes Abbey was founded in 1010 by Geoffrey, Lord of Sablé, who donated the monastery and its farm to the Benedictine monks of the Saint-Pierre de la Couture Abbey, "for the redemption of his soul and those of his parents, or those who went before him and those who come after him". The church was dedicated on 12 October, sometime between 1006 and 1015. In the 12th century, a lord of Sablé returned from the Holy Land in possession of a relic. This relic, being a piece from the crown of thorns was given to the brothers at Solesmes for safekeeping and veneration. The presence of this relic drew crowds and allowed the monastery to gain popularity and fame. This relic is depicted in the center of the monastery's coat of arms. Solesmes was sacked and burned during the Hundred Years' War but was later restored. The rebuilding of the church started towards the end of the 15th century. Prior Philibert de la Croix changed its plan from the basilica form to a Latin cross. His successor, Jean Bougler (1505–1556), completed the restoration of the church, added the tower, and rebuilt the cloisters, sacristy, and library. Under his direction two famous groups of statuary, known as the "Saints of Solesmes", were set up in the church. In the 16th century these masterpieces were in danger of being destroyed by the Huguenots and other iconoclasts, but the monks saved them by erecting barricades. From the 17th century on, Solesmes Abbey underwent a slow decline under a series of commendatory abbots. Such superiors, designated , received part of the