Abbatiale Saint-Pierre de Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne

On the quays of the "Limousin Riviera", the abbey church of Beaulieu raises its keep-like bell tower above the rooftops. The abbey was born at the end of the 9th century from the will of Rodolphe de Turenne, Archbishop of Bourges, who installed a dozen monks from Solignac here; the place seemed to him so sweet that he called it bellus locus, the beautiful place. Attached to Cluny in 1095 by a bull of Urban II, the abbey then entered its golden age: illustrious relics, donations, and a colossal building campaign opened around 1100 — choir consecrated in 1103, nave completed around 1240. But one comes to Beaulieu first of all for the south portal, carved in the early 12th century by workshops linked to those of Moissac and Toulouse. Its tympanum unfolds the Parousia, the return of Christ at the end of time: a Christ in Majesty with arms outstretched, the dead rising, and, on the lintels, many-headed monsters devouring the damned — three worlds one above the other, heaven, earth and hell, which gripped the pilgrims on their way to Compostela. Plundered by the Protestants in 1569, the abbey nonetheless saved its treasury, including the Virgin of Beaulieu, a 12th-century Majesty 61 cm high, a wooden core covered with silver plates, which can still be admired today. Listed as early as 1843, the abbey church remains one of the high points of Limousin Romanesque art, in a medieval town that has kept its pilgrim lanes.

Getting there : On the banks of the Dordogne, in the centre of the town; free admission to the church, the treasury is displayed in a chapel. Car parks near the town centre.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound