Ancienne abbaye Saint-Félix-de-Montceau

English translation

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History

The church is the only remains of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Félix de Montceau, which appears to have been founded in the first quarter of the 12th century. Nuns devoted to contemplative life chose this site where a Benedictine Romanesque chapel existed. This chapel having become too small, a Gothic church was built towards the end of the 13th century. Having gradually fallen into disuse, the priory was suppressed in 1749 and all its goods transferred to the Visitation of Montpellier, which was despoiled at the Revolution. The vault has collapsed. The walls alone remain standing. The nave was divided into three bays separated by bundles of seven colonettes descending to the ground, except those of the first bay which rest on a conical console. All the ribs are constituted by a torus between two mouldings. The building was lit by narrow windows presenting trilobed arches. The seven-sided apse is lit by three paired windows with trefoil arches surmounted by a quatrefoil. The western façade is pierced by a multilobed rose window. The main door opens to the north. The springings of the voussures rest on each side on six colonettes with splayed capitals decorated with a moulding.