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Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Léger d'Ebreuil, founded in the 10th century, was first a Carolingian royal residence in the 8th-IXth century, established by Louis le Pieux. The monks of Saint-Maixent, fleeing the Norman raids, translated the relics of Saint Léger and Saint Maixent about 853-866, under the impulse of a Carolingian ruler (Charles L'Enfant or Charles the Simple). In 926, a monastery was built, endowed by the king Lothaire, and the Abbey was enlarged in the 11th century (nef and transept). Built in Benedictine abbey by Pope Gregory VII in 1080, it became a place of major pilgrimage thanks to the relics of Saint Léger, whose 16th century shawl is still visible.

In the 18th century the abbey was abolished by Louis XV (letters patent of 1765), and its buildings destroyed in 1776 to give way to a hospital run by the Charitans. Only subsista the abbey church, unique mix of Carolingian (nef), novel (clocher-porch, 1125) and primitive Gothic (chœur, 1170). Its 11th- and 11th-century murals, 12th-century bas-reliefs, and its original wooden frame make it an architectural gem. The church became parish at the Revolution, replacing Our Lady of Ebreuil.

Among the 50 successive abbots, some marked history: François de Tournon (1509-1526), cardinal and diplomat; Jacques-François de Sade (1744-1778), uncle of the Marquis de Sade and libertian scholar; and Philibert Nicolas Hemey d'Auberive (1780-Revolution), last abbot, who had the neoclassical abbey built in 1783. This palace, decorated with Louis XVI stuccos and a Tuscan lava colonnade, is now protected under the title of Historic Monuments (inscription in 2010).

The Abbey of Saint-Léger is the only Carolingian church in Auvergne and one of the five in France to preserve its wooden frame. Its architectural peculiarities, such as the use of gold and Egyptian triangles in the bell tower, were studied by historian Georges Jousse. The excavations of 1767 revealed the tombs of Abbés, including Gerbert and his nephew Guillaume (died 1090). The relics of Saint Léger, still venerated, still draw attention to this emblematic site of religious heritage auvergnat.

Future

Today, nothing remains of the abbey, with the exception of the abbey church in Carolingian, Romanesque and primitive Gothic style. It is the only Carolingian church in Auvergne and is one of the five Carolingian churches in France that have preserved their wooden frame.

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