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Origin and history

The Priory of Cosnay, also known as the Chapel of Cosnay, is a religious building located in the hamlet of Cosnay, on the commune of Lakes (Indre). Built in the first half of the 12th century, it is mentioned for the first time in 1115 in a bubble of Pope Pascal II as a dependency of the Abbey of Deols. This abbey then tried to establish a cattle fair to compete with the Berthenoux, linked to the Abbey of Massay. The chapel, initially priory, was then attached to the cure of Lakes and then to that of Briantes.

Sold as a national property in 1793 during the Revolution, the chapel served as a dwelling before being abandoned. A barn, built after 1841, now occupies the presumed site of the old nave. The building, consisting of a square vessel covered with a broken cradle and an apse in a cul-de-four vaulted hemicycle, features white limestone walls and carved modillons on the bedside. The chapel, barn and ground of the plot were listed as historical monuments in 2003.

Currently privately owned, the priory of Cosnay is being restored. Its modest dimensions (6.50 m wide for 10 m long) and Romanesque architecture make it a rare testimony to the religious and rural history of Berry. The presence of carved models and a cutting stone apparatus underscores its heritage importance, despite the transformations experienced in the 19th century.

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