The Abbey of Saint-Aubin (St Albinus) with a medieval bell tower is located close to the main attractions in Angers Cathedral of Saint Mauritius and near the Museum of fine arts.

For the erection of the monastery of the Benedictine monks chose the site over the tomb of St. Albinus, Bishop of Angers, who was born in the late fifth century and lead the local congregation in the year 529. His feast day is celebrated on March 1. Before the construction of the monastery in the sixth century there was built the Basilica. In the XVII century the monastery was passed to marista – there was the name of the academic division of the Benedictine monks, named in honor of St. Maurus, preparing teachers of theology for educational institutions of the order and publishing religious books. Maurity was engaged in the rebuilding of the Abbey in the late seventeenth century and the first third of the XVIII century. Evidence of this period in the history of the monastery are the Grand staircase, the sacristy, decorated with panels of wood, the Chapter hall. From earlier Romanesque period has survived unique frescoes, discovered in the first half of the nineteenth century.

In the early nineteenth century, the majority of the Abbey was demolished during the construction of the town square Michel-debré. The remaining rooms were adapted for the needs of the Prefecture. Also survived to the bell tower, built in the XII century. With a height of 54 meters in the Middle ages it served as a watchtower and was strengthened as a fortress – it had loopholes, and even its own well. Today, the building towers above other urban buildings.

In the nineteenth century the tower lost the bells and the roof, in the twentieth century within its walls housed the Museum and meteorological Observatory. Today it hosts exhibitions of works of art. The tower is a national historic monument since 1862.