Ambronay, Our Lady or, a sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin at Ambronay, France, regarded as one of the two cradles of devotion to Our Lady in the Diocese of Belley. The original church was founded by recluses in the seventh century, and having been destroyed by the Saracens, was rebuilt (c. 803) by St. Barnard (778-842), together with the famous monastery of the same name. About the middle of the thirteenth century the church was reconstructed on a grander scale, and still remains, in spite of the ravages of 1793, one of the most imposing monuments of the diocese, remarkable for its windows, sacristy, altar, and spiral staircase. The facade of one of the naves dates from the ninth century.
Acta SS., 23 Jan.; Leroy, Histoire des pélerinages de la Sainte Vierge en France (Paris, 1875), II, 185
F. M. Rudge.