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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Césaire de Maurs, also known as the church of Saint-Sulpice, is a former Catholic abbey located in the Cantal, in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Its origins date back to a Benedictine priory of the 10th century, dependent on the abbey of Saint-Géraud of Aurillac. A first Romanesque church, built between 1065 and 1080 by the monks of Saint-Victor of Marseilles, was destroyed during the Hundred Years' War by Anglo-Gascons roadmen. The reconstruction began at the end of the 14th century, with a choir and portal dated from the beginning of the 15th century (a stained glass window of 1406 mentioned Saint Césaire).

In 1426, a contract was made with the mason Pierre Costes de Montsalvy to repair the bell tower, under the abbatiate of Pierre V. In the 16th century, two chapels were added: the Saint-Césaire Loratory in the south and the Saint-Georges Chapel in the north. The abbey was sacked by Protestants around 1586 and then underwent restorations in the 17th and 18th centuries. After the suppression of the monastery in 1768, the abbey became a parish church in 1785, replacing the ancient Saint Sulpice destroyed during the Revolution. The Saint George chapel was razed in 1805.

The building, classified as a historic monument in 1970, is characterized by a three-span nave dogives vaulted and a pentagonal choir. Its furniture, partially inventoried in the Palissy base, bears witness to its rich monastic past. The church illustrates the southern Gothic style of the 15th century, with local influences such as the human-faced caps under the bell tower. Its history reflects the religious and political upheavals of the region, from medieval wars to denominational conflicts of the Renaissance.

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