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Origin and history

The church of St Peter is the vestige of a Clunisian priory founded in the late 11th century by the noble families Aynard and Arvillard, co-teachers of Allevard. The donations of 1057 and 1082, including lands and churches, allowed the official establishment of the monastery in 1095 under Abbé Hugues de Semur. Pope Urban II, a former monk of Cluny, authorized his implantation by a pontifical bubble, marking his regional importance as the sixth priory of the province of Provence.

The priory, prosperous despite conflicts with the rival priory of Domène, housed up to seven monks and managed chapels dedicated to Saint George, Saint John the Baptist or Saint Catherine. In the 13th century, he administered cures in Dauphiné and Savoy, but declined from the 14th century due to wars, plague epidemics (1427–1441), and financial malfeasance. The fires of 1325 and 1336, as well as the beginning of 1516, accelerated its decadence, leading to the demolition of the convent buildings in 1780.

The bell tower, classified as a Historic Monument in 1908, is an emblematic example of Alpine Romanesque architecture, with its Lombard arches and geminied bays of the 12th century. The nave, originally divided by octagonal pillars, was profoundly reshaped in 1929–30 by the parish priest Graëff, who removed the supports to expand the space. The roman bedside, oriented to the east, preserves a semicircular apse and modern stained glass windows, including one representing the Holy Family (1934).

The lateral chapels, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (south) and the Virgin Mary (north), were disused in the seventeenth century. The first, under the bell tower, served as a riddle, while the second, in ruins, gave way to a sacristy in 1930. Recent restorations (2011–2012) treated the humidity of the walls and restored the Tuf modillons, while modernizing lighting and re-installing contemporary stained glass windows inspired by the colours of the 1934 stained glass window.

The priory played a major spiritual and economic role, managing a hospital, a maladry, and agricultural or mining land. Its decline accelerated with the Revolution: the church, spared by the destruction of 1789, was reopened to worship in 1801, but the convent buildings, sold as materials, disappeared. Today, only the bell tower and the parish church remain, witnesses to nine centuries of Clunisian history in Dauphiné.

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