Saint-Pierre abbey and its convent buildings

The Église Saint-Pierre was the site of a powerful Benedictine nunnery that was founded in the 7th century. The Romanesque-style church was built at the end of the 11th century. The monastery buildings are still partially preserved.

The ancient village of Beaumont was structured around a Benedictine abbey housing nuns from the upper aristocracy of Auvergne. It appears to have been founded at the end of the 7th century. In the ancient village two neighbouring churches are properties of the abbey - Saint-Pierre and Notre-Dame de la Rivière.

The Romanesque-style Église Saint-Pierre was built between 1060 and 1090 from arkose and volcanic stone. The building features a Latin cross floor plan with projecting transept and semi-circular apse flanked by two side chapels. The church is fully vaulted: barrel, half-barrel and semi-dome. To cover the transept crossing, the unusual solution of a transverse vault was preferred to that of a dome. To the north the church forms the fourth wing of monastery buildings set out in a “U” shape, around a cloister. The present-day Place Saint-Benoît traces the layout of this space. The oldest recognised parts date back to the 12th century, and include the cloister gallery on the north side, leading to several rooms (refectory, infirmary, warming room, chapter, etc.). Some vestiges of the cloister galleries are still visible (sculpted arches, columns and capitals.

At the time of the French Revolution, the community was dissolved and the monastery buildings were sold as National Assets then fully revamped. The cloister courtyard is crossed by a street towards the west and an alley towards the east. Its arches have been blocked and partially destroyed. The church and the remains of the cloister have been on the historic monuments registry since 1926 and 1927.