Carennac Church of Saint Peter and Cloister, France; a visitor's guide

Photo of Carennac Church of Saint Peter and Cloister

Visit Carennac Church of Saint Peter and Cloister

Saint Peter's church (eglise Saint Pierre) and cloister can be found in the centre of Carennac on the edge of the 'Court de Priere', a small courtyard. Carennac is in the Lot department close to the boundary with the Dordogne department.

Explore the Church of Saint Peter and its Cloister in Carennac

North of the Dordogne review: Be sure to admire the stunning carved entrance to the church and to explore the peaceful cloister.

Saint Peter church, Carennac

The Church of Saint Peter was originally a Priory built around the end of the 11th Century. The priory consisted of a church and monastic buildings and a cloister.

A porch with an elaborate and beautiful tympanum was added in 1150 attesting to the wealth and popularity of the priory.

The tympanum is decorated with scenes of Christ in Majesty surrounded by the apostles and the Tetramorph, the angel, eagle, lion and bull. These are symbols of the four Evangelists; Mathew, John, Mark and Luke.

Below this the stone supporting pillars are decorated with capitals carved with mythical animals.

The beautiful village of Carennac grew up around this rich priory and the village and priory flourished.

Unfortunately the priory and the original cloister were largely destroyed in the Hundred Year War, from the mid 14 to mid 15th century.

At the end of this the priory was restored and a little later the cloister was rebuilt.

Only one part of the original Romanesque cloister remained and the rest was built in Gothic style. The sculptures in the cloister were carried out by the workshop that also worked on the cloister of Cadouin.

However by the 18th century the prosperity of the priory of Carennac was finished and the priory fell in to disrepair;

Following the Revolution the monastic buildings were sold to an inhabitant of the nearby village of Gramat.

He later returned them to the few remaining inhabitants of Carennac. The church was used again as a place of worship but the cloister and monastic buildings were used as agricultural buildings.

Inside the cloister is a beautiful gothic 'Mise au tombeau', a sculpture depicting a group gathered around a tomb. Originally this was a painted sculpture but sadly all the paint was removed in 1896 at the request of a priest of the church!

Also in the room containing the Mise au tombeau is a bas-relief with carvings depicting the 'Life and Passion of Christ'. There are eight scenes which are read from bottom to top and from left to right to see the story in the right order.

The church became a classified Historical Monument in 1893 and the cloister was added in 1914.

Visits to the church and cloister are free and they are open every day.

Saint Peter church, Carennac