Abbaye Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens

The Abbaye Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens is a former Benedictine abbey located in the commune of Tourtoirac, in the Dordogne department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France, in the Auvézère valley about 33 km northeast of Périgueux.

It was founded at the beginning of the 11th century (between 1003 and 1025) by Viscount Guier of Limoges. By a charter of 1025 it was placed under the direction of Abbot Richard of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre d’Uzerche and adopted the Benedictine rule, remaining under Limousin influence despite lying in the diocese of Périgueux.

From the 12th century the abbey prospered and came to possess, directly or indirectly, a number of churches and priories. Its decline began during the Hundred Years’ War; by the end of the Wars of Religion it lay in ruins and the last remaining monks were dispersed. In the 18th century Pierre de Beaupoil de Saint-Aulaire, canon of Saint-Front and vicar general of Périgueux, attempted a revival by building a new abbatial residence, but the recovery was short-lived. The French Revolution brought the definitive end of the monastic community.

Safety works were carried out in the 19th century after several chapels collapsed. Surviving elements include the Romanesque abbey church built on a clover-shaped (trefoil) plan with two bell towers, a priory chapel of the 12th–13th centuries whose stone-slab (lauze) roof has been restored, remains of the chapter house of the vanished cloister (a pointed-arch doorway framed by three other pointed arches resting on small columns with sculpted capitals), a bakehouse, and the 18th-century abbatial logis.

The site was partially classified as a Monument historique by decree of 18 May 1960. Even in its ruined state it bears witness to the grandeur of the medieval monastic enclosure.