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Origin and history

The priory Sainte-Croix de La Volte was founded in 1025 by Odilon de Mercœur, Abbé de Cluny, and his family, on their native lands of Lavoûte-Chilhac (Haute-Loire). The foundation charter, signed on 14 September 1025, devotes 300 hectares of land and a temporary oratory Saint Denys, pending the completion of the monastic church. The monastery, under Cluny's authority, aims to ensure the salvation of the souls of the family of Mercœur, especially those of the brothers of Odilon, who died before 1021. Five priories will depend on it, including Saint-Privat de Reilhac and Sainte-Marie de Rochefort.

The construction of the priory ended in 1045, but tensions persisted with the family of Mercœur, which retained high justice on monastic lands (agreement of 1288). In the 14th century, the priory suffered road attacks (1365), pushing Cluny to erect three defense towers. The Romanesque church, threatened with ruin in 1411, was rebuilt in Gothic style between 1460 and 1472 under the impulse of the abbots of Cluny and the priors Barthélémy de la Farge and Jacques de Mousiac. A Romanesque vantail, engraved with an epitaph in Odilon, is preserved.

In the 18th century, architect Antoine Deval led the reconstruction of the congressional buildings in the Hemicycle (1778–90), according to an unprecedented elliptical plan. The Revolution interrupted the work: the priory, nationalized in 1790, was sold as a public good. In the 20th century, restorations (as early as 1965) saved some of the interior decorations, such as the prior's room (woodworks, 18th century stuccos). The church, classified in 1862, still houses the statue Notre-Dame Trouvée, an object of pilgrimage since its miraculous discovery in 1496.

The priory illustrates Cluny's influence in Auvergne, mixing medieval heritage (fortified enclosure, founding charter) and modern transformations. His successive protections (1862, 1889, 2001) underline his role in monastic and architectural regional history, from Romanesque art to neoclassicism. The archives also mention its connection with the family of Mercœur, the bishops of Puy, and the reform of the Close Observance (17th century).

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