Abbaye de Mègemont

Abbaye de Mègemont is a former Cistercian abbey standing in the commune of Chassagne, within the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Park in the Puy-de-Dôme department of France. The monastery sits in a narrow valley carved by the Chassagne stream, at roughly 870 metres above sea level, well under a kilometre from the village centre. It is one of the few places in Auvergne where a medieval Cistercian church has survived largely intact.

Where does the name Mègemont come from?

The name derives from the Latin "Medius Mons," meaning "middle mountain," a reference to the abbey's position among the hills ringing the valley. Over the centuries the Latin phrase gradually shifted in pronunciation into the modern French "Mègemont."

When was the abbey founded, and by whom?

The community was established sometime between 1199 and 1206 under the patronage of the Dauphin, Count of Auvergne, head of the Dauphin family that dominated the region at the time. It was founded as a convent for Cistercian nuns and stands as the last Cistercian house created within the diocese of Clermont. The founding family kept close ties to the abbey for generations: several women from the Dauphin line entered as nuns during the 13th and 14th centuries, and one of them eventually rose to abbess.

What was the abbey's golden age?

Between 1280 and 1340, Mègemont received a steady stream of financial gifts and land grants, a period generally regarded as its high point. The centuries that followed brought a gradual loosening of monastic discipline, and the cloister buildings began to deteriorate. In 1575, during the Wars of Religion, Huguenot troops raided the abbey and burned its archives, a loss that still limits what is known about the community's early decades.

Why did the nuns leave in the 17th century?

In 1611, Abbess Françoise de Nérestang, backed by her father, arranged a swap of communities with the abbey of La Bénisson-Dieu. Nine nuns and two lay sisters relocated there, while Cistercian monks from La Bénisson-Dieu moved into Mègemont under the leadership of Claude, Françoise's brother. From that point on, Mègemont operated as a male religious house until its suppression during the Revolution.

What happened to the abbey after the French Revolution?

In 1793, as part of the seizure of church property, the abbey buildings were sold off as national assets. The former monastery was converted into farm buildings, an outcome that, somewhat ironically, helped preserve its 13th-century abbey church at a time when many other Cistercian foundations in the region were disappearing almost entirely.

What can visitors see today?

The main draw is the Romanesque abbey church dating to the 13th century, one of the few Cistercian buildings in Auvergne to have survived in essentially its medieval form. The setting along the quiet Chassagne valley, largely untouched by mass tourism, gives the site a remote, unhurried character compared with better-known regional landmarks.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Abbaye de Mègemont located? In the commune of Chassagne, Puy-de-Dôme department, about 18 kilometres southwest of Issoire, at an elevation of roughly 870 metres.

Is the abbey a protected historic site? Yes. The entire abbey complex was listed as a monument historique (French historic monument) in 1996.

Was Mègemont a convent or a monastery for monks? Both, at different times. It began as a Cistercian convent for nuns and, from 1611 onward, following the exchange with La Bénisson-Dieu, functioned as a house for Cistercian monks.

Can visitors go inside the abbey church? The surviving 13th-century church is the site's main feature. Since the property passed into private, agricultural use after the 1793 sale, it is worth checking locally on current access before planning a visit.