Souvigny - Prieuré Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul

In 915 Aymar de Bourbon, ancestor of the House of Bourbon, gave land in Souvigny to the Cluny Abbey for the construction of a monastery. At that time the "Abbaye de Cluny" was just 5 years old, as it had been founded 910 by William I, Duke of Aquitaine, (aka "William the Pious").

Souvigny was one of the first priories, dependent from the Cluny Abbey, so it was known later as "one of the five eldest daughters of Cluny".

Cluny developed into the most powerful abbey in the Middle Ages, when the Cluniac Reforms changed the monastic life in Europe. German historian Dr. Joachim Wollasch ("Cluny, Licht der Welt"), estimates that in its haydays, more than 10.000 monks were parts of this network´, that stretched all over Europe. The pelerinage to Santiago de Compostella was one of the great "themes", developed and strongly supported by Cluny.

The priory in Souvigny was such an important convent, that two of the powerful abbots of Cluny, Majolus (+ 994) and Odilo (+ 1049) died here. Their graves were a place of pilgrimage site soon after. To cope with the growing number of pilgrims, the priory´s church got enlarged already within the 10th century.

Mayeul (= Majolus) was the 4th, Odilon (= Odilo) was the 5th abbot of the Abbey of Cluny. Odilo "invented" and established the "All Souls' Day" (2. November), that was adopted in the whole Western church.

The church, probably built after the model of Cluny III, with five aisles structure and two transepts, crumbled, when the times got tougher in the next centuries.

In 1793 French revolutionists raged through the priory, they desacrated the tombs of the saints as well as that of the nobility, damaged and decapitulated most of the statues and destroyed whatever they found. The left a ruined place.

When the rubble got excavated later many warosk of art were found, that can now be seen in the adjoining museum.

The "Colonne du Zodiaque" is probably the most spectacular. The octagonal column was originally probably 3, 80 meters high, but only the upper part remains. It is dated to the end of the 12th century.

Depicted are the signs of the zodiac, the "labors of the months", "strange" people and exotic/mythic animals.

A closer look onto the elephant, that unfortunately is rather damaged.

"Romanesque" elephants are a very rare species. Only three elephants have been in Europe in medieval times, only one, before this elephant was carved (end of 12th century).

- "Abul Abbas" (+810) owned by Charlemagne, a present from Harun al-Rashid.

- The "Cremona-elephant" owned by Frederik II in 1229, a present from Al-Kamil al-Malik.

- The elephant brought to France by Louis IX in 1255 returning from the cruisade, presented to Henry III. This elephant died in London 1258.

Interesting, that within a 130kms radius, are three more elephants: Vezelay, Châtel-Montagne and Perrecy-les-Forges.