Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Saint Vincent de Chantelle Abbey finds its origins in the fifth century with a castle and a church dedicated to Saint Vincent, taken over by Pépin the Brief in the eighth century. The priory was officially founded in 937 by Saint Odon, Abbé de Cluny, and entrusted to the Canons of Saint Augustine d'Évaux. This religious site, located on a rocky promontory overlooking the Bouble River, marks Chantelle's landscape from the beginning.

In the 12th century, the church was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and became a landmark: in 1286 it welcomed the Sacre d'Aymar de Cros, bishop of Clermont. The priory, rebuilt in the 15th century, was then integrated into the castle of the Dukes of Bourbon. In the 16th century, Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of Louis XI and regent of France, lived there regularly.

The fortress was partially dismantled in 1527 by order of parliament, then Richelieu completed its destruction in the seventeenth century, saving only the priory. At that time, the monastery, in decline, passed under the supervision of the Jesuits of the Collège de Moulins. The French Revolution chased the religious in 1794, and the priory was sold as a national good.

In 1853, the Benedictines of the abbey of Pradines bought the property and restored a religious community. Pope Leo XIII officially erected the monastery as an abbey in 1890. Today, the abbey remains a monastic place of life, welcoming spiritual retreats and pilgrims, while producing cosmetics to ensure its subsistence.

The architecture of the abbey combines a Romanesque church with a single nave flanked by lowsides, a walk-through and three apsidioles, as well as a 15th century cloister. The latter gives access to vaulted rooms (refectory, chapter room) and a turret housing a spiral staircase. Ranked a historic monument in 1862, the abbey is also a filming place, as for the show Secrets d'Histoire in 2018, dedicated to Anne de Beaujeu.

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