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Origin and history

The Priory of Ronsenac, located in the eponymous village of Charente, is a foundation of the order of Cluny cited before the end of the 11th century. It rises south of the local Romanesque church and has undergone several phases of construction, ranging from the 11th to the 19th century. His history was marked by an English occupation in the 15th century, when English monks, driven by heresy to England, found refuge there. These monks, welcomed by the Benedictines, remained there until the Revolution, when the priory was sold as a national good.

The current building consists of two wings to the west, including 19th-century communes with re-uses of cloister piles, as well as a house body from the late 15th century with a tower of staircase in view. To the south, the abbey house features Romanesque, third-point and rectangular bays built on a vaulted cellar of a broken cradle. A Romanesque sculpture depicting a lion adorns the lintel of the front door. Remnants of murals dating from the 14th or 15th centuries were discovered in a clogged bay, illustrating religious scenes such as a monk reading, the mystical Lamb, and Adam and Eve.

The north wing of the priory is limited to a section of wall pierced by five arches with polylobed arches. The floor of what was probably the capitular room houses graves. The priory was protected under the Historical Monuments: the facades, roofs, and floor of the cloister area were registered in 1988, while the wall paintings were classified in 1990. These elements reflect the historical and architectural significance of the site, marked by clunisian influences and a multi-sacular occupation.

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