Châtel-Montagne - Notre-Dame

In 1082 some Seigneur Dalmas and his wife Étiennette gave all the properties they own in "Castrumin Montanis", including a church, to Cluny. This legal act was important enough to get an official approval from Pope Urban II in 1095. Urban II had been a monk in Cluny for some years, before he was sent to Rome.

A priory was set up - and a small church was erected. Parts of this church can still be found in the church seen here on the hill, built 1100 - 1200. The priory never really flourished, the community of monks was small - and already from 1462 on, the church was used as a parish church. After the French Revolution the bell tower lost the spire and the church was sold and used as a storage for salpeter, a chemical used for the production of gunpowder. So the church/the storage was under the custody of the National Guard, what saved it from demolition.