Église prieurale Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame, La Charité-sur-Loire

The priory of Notre-Dame de La Charité-sur-Loire is a Benedictine priory located in the department of Nièvre, whose foundation charter dates back to 1059 with the donation of a church of Sainte-Marie. It is known in 1070 under the name of Caritate and is part of the diocese of Auxerre.

It underwent modifications in the 12th century, notably the construction of an ambulatory with radiating chapels. The church is especially famous for its chevet with radiating chapels and its façade with its two tympanums. It belonged to an important priory dependent on the powerful abbey of Cluny, in Burgundy, of which it was one of the five oldest daughters. This is why it was, in the Middle Ages, the second largest church in France, after that of Cluny III. Rich and powerful, the Cluniac priory of La Charité-sur-Loire was enriched by numerous donations and possessions from its creation. The great prioral church of today, like the one in Cluny, must show the influence of the order and the priory through its careful decoration and its grandeur.

The priory was classified as a historical monument in 1840 and was inscribed in 1998 on the list of world heritage sites by UNESCO as part of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in France.