This imposing Cluniac priory stands next to a Roman church with amazing acoustics and has managed to stand the test of time. A thousand years of history and architecture are unveiled as you visit a place with many kinds of heritage.
It is a gateway to the arts and can take you on a surprising cultural journey, with medieval basements, cloister, chapter house, refectory, cells, roofs, reception rooms, etc.
These are all areas through which you can walk on a richly rewarding tour.
There is an unguided tour route following in the footsteps of the priory’s ten centuries of history. It is accessible to younger children via a game part on each of the panels. A maze, a rebus, building a model… Will you be clever enough to take up its many challenges?
• Its former monastery: the basements, the fortified towers, the cloister, the refectory, the chapter house, the monumental staircase, the reception rooms, the cells
• Its 15th and 17th century oak roofs
• The 16th century prior’s quarters
The village of Pommiers is a stopping-off point on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and, with its priory, offers a remarkable illustration of the Loire’s medieval heritage. Its story began over a thousand years ago with the arrival of a community of Benedictine monks. The church, along with a first, very austere Roman monastery, were then built near the river Aix. Walls were erected to protect the village during the Hundred Years’ War, and the monastery was given three imposing fortified towers.
In the early 16th century, a noble, secular commendatory prior took over as head of the priory, and had a Renaissance-inspired private house built.
The building was modernised in the 17th and 18th centuries, under the influence of Cluny. Panelling, fireplaces, a monumental spiral staircase and gabled roofs made their appearance, all bearing the hallmark of classical architecture. This heritage is all the more important given that the site suffered no severe damage at all during the French Revolution. The Department of the Loire has owned the monument since 1990 and has carried out a great deal of restoration work to make the most of this amazing piece of heritage.
The former monastery’s attic space is the high point of the guided tour.
It has been restored by the Department and is one of the few examples of an oak roof to be seen in the Loire region. Visitors can see various 15th and 18th century assemblies - roofs with rafters forming the truss, gabled roofs and double ribbed roofs but also an old nesting box. An incredible model, made as an exact copy by a former “Compagnon du Devoir" craftsman and on display in the priory, allows you to see even the tiniest details. The roofs are only accessible on a guided tour.