SAINT-PIERRE ABBEY

Don't miss this real gem! The largest church in Corrèze is a masterpiece of Romanesque art. At the crossroads of Quercy, Limousin and Auvergne, it reflects the currents running through the region. This Benedictine abbey was founded in the ^9th century by Rodolphe de Turenne, Archbishop of Bourges. Initially, it was inhabited by monks from Solignac, but in the early ^12th century, the community became affiliated to the Cluny order. This majestic building of pale ochre sandstone is dominated by a dungeon bell tower. But the abbey's most remarkable feature is undoubtedly its splendid tympanum, dated 1125, a veritable stone bible depicting the Universal Judgement. André Malraux called it "one of the most beautiful Romanesque tympanums, the only one in which the sculptor has depicted, behind Christ's arms open to the world, those of the crucifix like a prophetic shadow". Take your time to admire the sculpted decoration and the splendour of its figures. The building's interior features the three architectural characteristics of a monastic abbey church: the triple nave, here in composite style, the transept beyond and the choir, here an ambulatory, where the faithful practiced their devotions without taking their eyes off the relics of Saints Prime and Felician. ^15th-century Baroque choir stalls and altarpiece. In the north arm of the transept, a chest contains the treasure, the most important of which is the "Majesté de Beaulieu", a ^12th-century Virgin and Child, and a ^13th-century champlevé enamel shrine.