Église Notre-Dame de Chamalières, Medieval church in Chamalières, France.

Église Notre-Dame de Chamalières is a Romanesque church built of blond arkose mixed with black or grey volcanic stone. Its oldest parts, the nave, narthex and western block, date from the late 10th or mid-11th century; the 12th-century chevet has four radiating chapels. The square tower carries an octagonal drum with a tiled roof, two louvered arched windows and a white clock face. Fifty-three tomb slabs lie in the floor, the oldest dated 1281.

A female monastic community was founded here in the 7th century by the Count of Auvergne and the Bishop of Clermont. By the 10th century sixteen regular canons served Notre-Dame, which also became a parish church in the 12th century. The Romanesque nave, narthex and western block date from the late 10th or, more probably, the mid-11th century; the chevet, porch and vaults were added in the 12th century. The octagonal bell tower replaced a tower destroyed during the Revolution.

The name Notre-Dame refers to the Virgin Mary, to whom the former collegiate church is dedicated. Fifty-three tomb slabs lie in the floor, the oldest dated 1281 and the most recent 1803, and a 17th-century confessional is kept inside. Sixteen regular canons served the church from the 10th century, and it also held a parish from the 12th century.

The church stands in Chamalières, just southwest of Clermont-Ferrand, and is a working parish building rather than a museum. Look down when you enter: 53 tombstones are set into the floor, the oldest dated 1281 and the latest 1803. The 1920s restoration reshaped the western block, so the nave, narthex and westwork read differently from the 12th-century chevet.

Fifty-three tomb slabs lie in the floor, the oldest dated 1281 and the most recent 1803. The building rests on Gallo-Roman remains, though it seems not to have replaced an earlier church. A 17th-century confessional also survives inside.