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Key figures

Origin and history

The priory Saint-Pierre de Rompon, locally nicknamed "Chèvres convent", is a Benedictine abbey in ruins located on a dominant plateau Le Pouzin, in Ardèche. The current remains include the south wall of the nave with a spiral staircase and elements of the three apses, testifying to its Romanesque reconstruction in the 12th century. The site, occupied as early as the 5th century by a late-old rural fortress, perhaps housed a primitive church, mentioned in the Charta vetus in the 7th century.

In 977, Saint Peter's church became a clunisian priory thanks to a donation, and reached its peak in the 12th century: it administered eight parishes between Le Pouzin, La Voulte-sur-Rhône and Privas, housing a prior and twelve monks. The Romanesque church, whose ruins remain today, was built at that time. The decline began in the Wars of Religion (16th century), leading to its abandonment and progressive ruin, until the collapse of its apse in 1997.

Ranked a historic monument in 1927, the site was acquired by Lafarge Granulats in 2022 and then sold, but remains threatened by the expansion of neighbouring quarries operated by Delmonico-Dorel. Its history reflects the challenges of preserving the medieval heritage of ardèche, between Clunisian heritage and modern industrial pressures.

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