Abbaye de Saint-Amand-de-Coly

Coly-Saint-Amand

In a wooded valley eight kilometres from Lascaux, the abbey church of Saint-Amand-de-Coly is like no other church in Périgord: it was designed to defend itself. Its thirty-metre porch-tower, almost out of proportion, opens through an immense pointed arch surmounted by a strongroom; corbels, still visible, once carried the hoardings from which defenders covered the doorway. Arrow slits, machicolation corbels, wall-walks, staircases hidden in the thickness of the walls, an enclosure of three hundred metres enclosing more than five thousand square metres: the whole military apparatus of the Middle Ages is here, grafted onto a Romanesque church forty-eight metres long. Tradition traces the foundation back to the 6th century and to three monks who settled on a Merovingian estate, but the first documented monastery appears only around 1047–1048; Abbot Guillaume launched construction around 1124, and the work progressed through the north transept, the choir, the south transept, then the nave and the portal. The fortifications, for their part, are later — probably from the Hundred Years' War. They saw service: in 1575, during the Wars of Religion, a Protestant force led by Jean de Cugnac dug in here, and Henri de Noailles had to bring cannon from Brive to bombard the place for six days. This church is often said to be the finest fortified church in Périgord; the commune more cautiously writes "the most solidly fortified", and given the defences, that is a claim that can be defended.

L'abbaye — Coly-Saint-Amand ↗

Getting there : 8 km from Lascaux, between Montignac and Sarlat, at the bottom of a wooded valley. The abbey church is open with free admission for much of the year; the Accueil Patrimoine, 12 route de l'Abbaye, offers an interpretation centre and guided tours, including one that climbs up to the roof space (1 h 30, €9.50; shorter options at €8 and €6), running in July and August from Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 6.30 pm. The building is not accessible to wheelchairs: a virtual tour is offered instead. Narrow staircases within the thickness of the walls for the upper-level tours.

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

Ambient sound