Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Cheylard barn was a farm owned by Mazan Abbey, founded in 1119 as the daughter of Bonnevaux. His presence in Aubenas was attested as early as 1217 by a pontifical bubble. The estate clearly appeared in the 14th century, becoming in the 15th century an abbatial residence. The buildings, organized in U around a courtyard, include a unique nave church with Romanesque bays, a cellar and a gallery with broken arcades.

In the 17th century, despite its state as a "damaged convent", the religious built a house in 1661. The estate, exploited for agriculture and stone extraction in the 18th century, was sold as a national good during the Revolution. In the 19th century, it housed a brewery before returning to peasants. Its hydraulic system, including a bridge and canals, testifies to its medieval organization.

Ranked a historic monument in 2007, the barn retains defensive elements (wall of enclosure, missing door) and an underground irrigation network. The plots around the Mercouare River, with their bridge and hydraulic system, are protected. The building illustrates the evolution of a Cistercian estate, from monastic exploitation to agricultural and industrial use.

Mazan Abbey, the southernmost Cistercian foundation, played a major economic and spiritual role in Ardèche. The Cheylard, originally a production centre, reflects the utilitarian and religious architecture of monastic barns, adapted to local needs (agriculture, water management).

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