Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Chantelle, Benedictine abbey on limestone cliffs in Chantelle, France.

Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Chantelle is a Benedictine convent on a rocky spur above the Bouble. Its Romanesque church, rebuilt in the 12th century, has a three-bay nave with side aisles and an apse with an ambulatory and three radiating chapels. The 15th-century cloister, north of the church, leads to three rooms with rib vaults: the refectory, the chapter house and the community room. A turret at the north corner holds a spiral staircase without a central newel.

A priory founded in 937, its charter signed by Odo of Cluny and kept in the Puy-de-Dôme archives, was entrusted to Augustinian canons. The Romanesque church was rebuilt in the 12th century, and in 1286 Aymar de Cros was consecrated bishop of Clermont there. Anne de Beaujeu governed France from the adjoining Bourbon castle from 1483 to 1491; Richelieu had the fortress demolished in 1635, sparing the priory. Nuns from Pradines revived monastic life in 1853, and Leo XIII raised the house to an abbey in 1890.

The Benedictine nuns here maintain a monastic life centered on prayer and daily labor. They produce natural cosmetic products in their workshop, which visitors can purchase as souvenirs.

The convent welcomes visitors on Monday afternoons and Tuesday through Friday mornings and afternoons, with extended hours during summer weekends. It is advisable to check exact opening times before your visit as schedules vary with the season.

The abbey church, spared when Richelieu had the Bourbon castle razed in 1635, later served as a warehouse during the French Revolution. The 937 foundation charter, co-signed by Odo of Cluny, survives and is kept in the archives of Puy-de-Dôme.