Romainmôtier Monastery, Romanesque abbey in Romainmôtier-Envy, Switzerland

Romainmôtier Monastery is a former Benedictine abbey whose Romanesque church, built between about 990 and 1030, has a three-aisled nave, a transept and a crossing tower topped by a steep spire added in the 15th century. The interior has a pointed barrel vault with ribs painted in red, blue and white zigzags, rounded arcades, and an 8th-century ambo from the earlier building.

Founded around 450 by Saint Romain and his brother Lupicin from Condat, the monastery was destroyed by the Alamanni in the 6th century and refounded in 632 by Félix Chramnélène under the rule of Saint Columban. Pope Stephen II placed it directly under the Holy See in 753, giving it the name Romanum monasterium. In 928/929 it was handed to Cluny and became a priory; it regained the title of abbey only in 1447.

The name of the place goes back to Saint Romanus, a 5th-century monk who settled here. Inside the church, visitors can still see medieval frescoes on the walls, which give the interior a warmth that plain stone alone cannot provide.

The church stands in the middle of Romainmôtier-Envy, reached on foot from the village lanes. The cloister and convent buildings were demolished after 1536, so only remnants of the former cloister survive on the south side of the church; there is no walkable cloister. The 13th-century prior's house, later the Bernese bailiff's seat, now holds an artists' meeting centre.

Beneath the current floor of the church lie the foundations of at least four earlier buildings that were built one on top of the other over many centuries. Traces of these different construction phases are still visible in parts of the interior walls today.