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Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Robert de La Chaise-Dieu, located in the commune of the same name in Haute-Loire, is a 14th century Gothic building, rebuilt on the initiative of Pope Clement VI (Pierre Roger de Beaufort), former monk of the Abbey. Founded in 1043 by Robert de Turlande, the abbey already had 300 monks at his death in 1068. In 1342 Clement VI, newly elected, ordered the reconstruction of the Romanesque church of his childhood to make it a larger and majestic monument, sheltering his future tomb. The works, led by Hugues Morel and Pierre Salciat, were completed in six years (1344-1350), with a radiant Gothic architecture marked by great austerity.

The abbey, built of local granite, is distinguished by its original jube, its low vaulted nave, and its collaterals of the same height as the central vessel. It houses a macabre dance painted between 1425 and 1440, as well as a remarkable organ with two buffets, commissioned in the seventeenth century by Abbé Hyacinthe Serrani and restored in the twentieth century. The whole suffered damage during the Wars of Religion (1562) and was classified as historical monuments in 1840. A major restoration, led by Michel Garnier between 1990 and 1995, restores the building to its brilliance.

Among the treasures of the Abbey are fourteen Flemish tapestries of the Renaissance, commissioned by Father Jacques de Saint-Nectaire (1461-1518). These hangings, exhibited until 2019 in the choir, illustrate biblical scenes in triptych, mixing New and Old Testaments. Restored after centuries of degradation, they are now presented in the old Notre-Dame chapel of the college, arranged for their conservation. The abbey also maintains a room with unique acoustic properties, called the "Echo Room", and a lying room discovered in 1999.

The organ, classified as a historical monument in 1903 and 1970, is an exceptional witness to the French Baroque bill. Composed of two buffets of distinct styles (1683 and 1726), it was saved from oblivion thanks to the music festival founded in 1966 by György Cziffra. Its forty games and cuneiform bellows make it an ideal instrument for music in the Great Century. The Abbey, with its history linked to the papacy of Avignon and its artistic heritage, remains a jewel of the southern Gothic.

Clement VI, the principal patron, entrusted the supervision of the plans to Pierre de Cébazat, the masterpiece of Clermont Cathedral, although his exact role in the design remains uncertain. The accounts of the site, kept in the Vatican archives, reveal a rapid realization (1344-1350) for a 75-metre-long building. The abbey, classified in 1840, embodies both the spiritual radiance of the abbey and the fascists of the 14th century papal court.

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