Doyenné (deanery)

In the Roman Catholic Church a doyenné consists of a number of parishes; it is the organizational layer between the diocèse (diocese) and those parishes.
The head of a doyenné is a curé-doyen (dean).
Doyenné has also a second meaning: it is an agricultural unit providing an abbaye (abbey) or a prieuré (priory) with agricultural products. The person in charge is also called doyen (dean).
In the picture the tower and on the left the beginning of the defence walls; the building on the right is the logis (housing) of a doyenné in the second sense.
The doyenné was accessible via a drawbridge in front of the tower, and within the walls stood a chapelle (chapel).
It is de doyenné of Bezornay (Saint-Vincent-des-Prés).

Doyenné de Bezornay (Saint-Vincent-des-Prés)