Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule - Sainte Croix

Legends tell, that in the 6th century a hermit named Porcianus, later known as Saint Pourcain founded a monastery on the height of land overlooking the river. The monastery was restored between 871 and 875 by monks of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Philibert, (today in Loire-Atlantique), who had fled the Noirmoutier Abbey traying to bring St. Philiberts relics into safety from the the Norman raids.

They stayed for a couple of years and settled finally in Tournus. The monastery of Saint-Pourçain became a priory dependent on the abbey of Saint-Philibert de Tournus.

During the French Revolution, the monastery was closed and its church "Sainte Croix" became a parish church.

So this was the church of monastery. The first construction phase started within the 11th century, so romanesque walls can be seen in the nave - in the first bays. Further east the structure is gothic (13th), incl. the radial chappels of the choir. The church got looted and heavily damaged during/after the French Revolution, which is still very visible. During the 19th century the church got reconstructed. A neoclassical facade was added and the bell tower got a new spire.