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Origin and history

The church of St. Stephen of Nevers, founded in the 7th century as a female monastery under the rule of St. Colomban, was rebuilt between 1063 and 1097 under the impulse of Count William I of Nevers and Bishop Hugues of Champallement. Placed under the authority of Cluny, she became a Benedictine priory after the departure of the canons of Saint-Sylvestre in 1063. The charter of 1097 formalized its foundation as a franc village, free of taxes and military service, under the justice of the monks.

The building, consecrated in 1097 by Bishop Yves de Chartres, embodies Clunisian Romanesque architecture with a three-storey nave (archives, stands, high windows), a walk-through and three radiant chapels. Viollet-le-Duc called it "the most perfect monument left to France in the 11th century". The priory, surrounded by walls in the 12th century, lost his privileges in 1585 at his meeting in the city of Nevers. A fire in 1420 destroyed part of the convent buildings, partially rebuilt in the 18th century.

Ranked a Historical Monument in 1840, the church underwent major transformations: the destruction of its three Romanesque bell towers and its narthex in 1792, the removal of the carved tympanum from the portal, and the addition of a sacristy in the 15th century. The restorations of the 19th and 20th centuries (1846-1910) partially restored its Romanesque aspect, notably through the reconstruction of the bedside chapels and the demolition of the later additions. Excavations in 1974 revealed Merovingian remains, including a mosaic depicting Saint Colomban.

The interior is distinguished by its elevation on three levels, its vaulted stands in half-ceau (unique in Burgundy), and a nave culminating at 18 meters under a cradle in full hanger. The transept, covered with an octagonal dome, and the choir with its walk-through illustrate the clunisian influence. The exterior models, carved with geometric motifs and fantastic figures, are among the rare decorative elements preserved.

The church, disused of the Revolution and transformed into a barn, became parish again in 1798. Its dimensions (50.70 m long, 33.45 m transept) and its Latin cross plan make it a model of Romanesque pilgrimage churches. Today, it still houses merovingian sarcophagi and an altar novel, testimonies of its millennial history.

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