Église Saint-Michel de Nantua

Église Saint-Michel de Nantua is a Romanesque church featuring a central choir and a high altar adorned with white marble angels, along with a Renaissance chapel. The building combines Romanesque structural elements with artistic features added during later periods.

The building stands as the last remaining structure from a Benedictine abbey founded in 671, which underwent transformation into a priory around 1100 under Cluniac order influence. This conversion shaped the spiritual and architectural development of the site for centuries afterward.

Saint Anne Chapel displays religious artworks including a stone altarpiece and stained glass windows that reveal the artistic decoration of the space. The church also preserves a painting by Eugène Delacroix that holds an important place in the building's artistic history.

The bell tower received historical monument status in 1907, with comprehensive protection extended to the entire structure in 2015. Visitors should be aware that as a protected historical site, the building undergoes regular maintenance and restoration work.

The vault arches of Saint Anne Chapel demonstrate remarkable craftsmanship from the Renaissance period in the region. This architectural detail often goes unnoticed by visitors, yet it reveals the technical skill applied to the interior design.