The Romanesque church was located on the way to Compostela. One of the first building in Creuse departement listed as a Historical monument!
Our story began with Aubert, a canon from Limoges, who raised a small church here in 1028, in a place called Segundelas. His goal? Put relics of saint Bartholomew, that he brought back from the Italian city of Benevest. A monastery was founded.
They rebuilt a bigger church in the middle of the 12th century because lots of pilgrims used to stop here to see relics: this church was raised at a stretch!
And did you notice one thing? On a slab we can see a recumbent statue representing a monk holding a book in his hand. Maybe this man is Aubert, the canon founder?
The little priory became abbey in 1458 then in the 15th century, they raised 2 Gothic chapels in the church. When architects Viollet-le-Duc and Abadie restored it in the 19th century, they destroyed them...