Marcilhac-sur-Célé - Abbaye Saint-Pierre

Monks from Moissac, who had fled the Normans, built up the monastery in Marcilhac-sur-Célé in the early 9th century. The abbey gained importance and was pretty wealthy.

Even the church of Rocamadour was transferred to the abbey from the Bishop of Cahors. After monks from Tulle had discovered the body of legendary Saint Amadour in Rocamadour in 1166, what triggered a profitable pilgrimage, a lawsuit between Marcilhac and Tulle started. The controversy got finally settled in 1193, when the abbey in Tulle accepted a hefty compensation.

The decline started, when English troops sacked and ruined the abbey during the Hundred Years War. Most of what was rebuilt and reconstructed after that got burnt down by Protestants during the Wars of Religion. The abbey did not really recover, but existed upto the French Revolution.

The former abbey church meanwhile serves the parish, but is much smaller than it was once, as the western part of the nave is in ruins.

The chapterhouse is the only still existing structure of the convent buildings. Here are still some interesting capitals. The left one has an inscription LITICIA, what is probably Laeticia = Joy. I have no idea, what the person is holding. Moses and the tablets of law? To the right devils torture the poor souls. A "Danse Macabre".