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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel of Saint Eugénie de Moingt, integrated with a Benedictine priory, was built in the 14th century on the remains of the Gallo-Roman thermal baths of Aquis Segete, a Gallic thermal city mentioned on the table of Puisinger. This site, located along the Bolène Way (an ancient route linking Lyon to Toulouse via Saint Paulien), bears witness to Moingt's strategic importance as a medieval and Roman stage. The thermal baths, reused by the Abbey of the Chair-God from the 13th century to establish a tithe barn, were transformed into a priory before the addition of the chapel in the following century.

The first written mention of the chapel dates back to 1340, under the name of Sainte-Eugénie (confirmed in 1553 and 1671). After the Revolution, the priory will successively house the exiled Clares of Montbrison, a temporary weaving workshop (1851), and then private dwellings. Abandoned in the 20th century, the site was restored in 2016 by the city of Montbrison, allowing to save the Gothic chapel — characterized by its two-span nave, its column porch and its trilobed tympanum — as well as adjacent conventual remains.

Ranked a historic monument in 1992, the chapel illustrates the superposition of the epochs: its medieval architecture dialogue with Gallo-Roman foundations, while its history reflects the religious and economic changes of the region. The Bolène route, a major axis of the Middle Ages, already emphasized the role of Moingt's crossroads, between Auvergne and Lyonnais, a legacy perpetuated by its current location on the Avenue Thermale.

Recent excavations and restorations revealed elements of ancient thermal baths, confirming the status of Aquis Segete as one of the five distinguished Gallic thermal cities on the Puisinger table. This hybrid heritage — both religious, Roman and medieval — makes it a key site for understanding the urban and cultural evolution of the Loire since ancient times.

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