Saint-Peter's Abbey
The abbey has a relatively recent building, constructed from 1722. Both majestic and impressive from the top of its imposing silhouette overlooking the banks of the Sarthe, the abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, founded in 1010, is a mecca for Gregorian chant. Occupied by a community of Benedictine monks, only the abbey church can be visited. The latter contains in its transept masterpieces of the French Renaissance: the Saints of Solesmes, two sculpted ensembles dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.
About this building
Narrow and long, the church is composed of two volumes that follow one another: the nave of the faithful, which corresponds to the old church, dating mainly from the 11th and 15th centuries, and the monks' choir, built by Dom Guéranger in 1865. Originally, the church had two aisles that were destroyed during the Hundred Years' War. The openings were then walled up. It was Dom Guéranger who, in the second half of the 19th century, reopened them to fit out the side chapels. The chapels on the left side overlook the cloister and are therefore blind.