Ancien monastère

English translation

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History

Benedictine monastery founded in 927 by Acfred of Aquitaine for twelve monks. It was attached to Cluny around the middle of the 10th century where it became one of the most important priories in Auvergne. From this period dates the Romanesque hall which does not appear to be later than the 11th century. The parts covered with rib vaults date without doubt from the 15th century. The present cloister presents architecture of the 17th century. The monks of Cluny remained there until the Revolution. In 1840, the brothers of the Christian Schools opened a teaching establishment before being driven out in 1904. The most important part was the wing whose outer facade faces south, assigned to the apartments of the religious. A wide open gallery ran along it and ended with a staircase leading to the gardens. Below the building, opening onto the gardens, were fitted out barrel-vaulted cellars, vat rooms, wood sheds, stables... Nothing remains of the church which was destroyed. The cloister presented itself as a vast rectangle with a covered gallery attached to the buildings. Near the church, in front of the cloister, stood the charnel house in which were deposited the bones removed from the cemetery of the monks which was situated in the cloister. There survive today only the cloister and the main dwelling re-pierced in the 17th century which contains the Romanesque hall.