Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Saint-Nizier church is one of the most important places of worship in Lyon, both for its antiquity and its architecture. Entirely rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries in a flamboyant Gothic style, the church has been a listed building since 1840.

The Saint-Pasquier church was originally a simple chapel. Built at the end of the 19th century to the plans of the architect François Bougoüin, a pupil of Viollet-le-Duc, it was consecrated on 27 September 1908. The church is small and simple in plan, in the neo-Romanesque style.

St Paul's Church in Clairfayts was founded in 1556, on the initiative of the monks of the Abbey of Liessies to which the village belonged. It is a classified Historical Monument since 1920.

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.

The nave, the right arm of the transept, the radiant chapels and the right side of the nave date from the 11th century; the interior of the choir from the 12th century. The crypt dates from the end of the 10th century; it is a construction of Father Etienne; its height under keystone of 3.50 m is exceptional. The cloister dates from the 11th century; only the restored north gallery remains.

Its typical 18th century style is of simple and classic elegance. One can notice the beautiful arrangement of the facades, the porch going down into the park designed in the English style, the banisters of the stairs and the interior woodwork. The abbey church of Saint Pierre depended on the adjoining abbey. Its construction dates back to the 11th-12th century, then rebuilt in the 14th, 16th and 19th centuries. The church is a beautiful example of Romanesque art of Saintongeaise inspiration.

Saint-Pierre de Montluçon church is a 13th-century Romanesque building classified as a Historic Monument since 1978. Saint-Pierre church dates from the 13th century, but its façade dates from the 18th century.

Moissac is known for its grandiose cloister. It has twenty capitals on two sides and eighteen on each of the other two, making a total of seventy-six. The decoration of the capitals combines floral and historiated motifs, many of them with detailed inscriptions. The present church was built in the 15th century, with later modifications and restorations. At the foot of the church is the bell tower, erected on a square-shaped narthex with an upper floor, probably dating from the 12th century.

The origins of the Saint-Pierre et Saint-Denis Church probably date back to the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the fish stop device (opus spicatum) on some walls. The building was enlarged successively in 1852 and 1878, and the last improvements were made in 1968.

The Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Saramon Abbey was founded in the 9th century. The present church is the result of interventions carried out on an 11th century building which modified its appearance.