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Origin and history

The Saint-Martin Abbey of Massay, located in the Cher, has its origins in the eighth century, founded in 738 by Egon, Count of Aquitaine. According to tradition, Charlemagne made a donation after a visit. Reformed in 814 by Benoît d'Aniane under the Benedictine rule, it was looted by the Normans in 873, then rebuilt in 910. A fire ravages it in 999. Affiliated to Cluny with the Abbey of Deols, it became a major monastic center in the Xth–XIIth centuries.

After a fire in 1128, the abbey was rebuilt in a Romanesque style evolving towards the Gothic, with an abbey chapel built between 1165 and 1175 under the influence of Angelvin. Saint Louis passed there in 1258. Partially destroyed during the Hundred Years' War (circa 1360), it was rebuilt in the 14th century, then equipped with a bell tower-Gothic of 42 meters in 1483 by Abbé Bertrand de Chamborand. This bell tower, decorated with its coat of arms, houses seven bells, one dated 1512.

The abbey was looted and destroyed during the Wars of Religion (1562, 1567) and declined under the regime of commende. Closed in 1735 by the archbishop of Bourges, his buildings were dismantled in 1736, except for the abbey church, which was ceded to the commune. The Revolution completed its partial destruction, including the cloister, through a new road. In the 19th century, restorations saved the bell tower and removed the steps of the nave.

Today, elements classified as historical monuments remain: the church of Saint-Paxent (old abbey), the chapel of Saint-Loup (XII century, Romanesque with warheads), the capitular hall (XIII century) with its dorm, the house of the chambrier (XVII century), and the remains of the fortifications. The Saint-Loup chapel, sober and homogeneous, illustrates the Roman-Gothic transition, while the capitular hall, vaulted with dogives, communicated with the two cloisters. The site also retains a pool and cellars.

Among the notable abbots, Odon de Cluny (Xth century) and Bertrand de Chamborand (XVIth century) left their architectural footprint. The bell tower, known as the Chamborant Tower, bears its inscription and its weapons. The stained glass windows of the church of St. Paxent (XVI and XIX centuries) and the mutilated stalls testify to its rich past. The abbey, linked to the Clunisian and Benedictine history of Berry, embodies the religious and political upheavals of medieval and modern France.

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