Eglise Saint-Laurent

The church of Saint-Laurent is the former church of a priory, built during the second half of the 12th century by a dozen Benedictine monks sent by the priory of Lurcy-le-Bourg, dependent on the priory of La Charité-sur-Loire, the "elder daughter of Cluny". Saint-Laurent de Béard is in pure Burgundian Romanesque style with some of the characteristics of these priories. Without claiming to have all the resources of Romanesque creativity, it nevertheless has some of the characteristics of the best monuments of the Nivernais region of that period.
It is "oriented" along the East-West axis, but with an 18° offset corresponding to Saint Lawrence, the patron saint of this church, whose feast day is August 10th. Its plan is that of a cross, composed of a single nave, a projecting transept and a main axial apse forming the heart. It has a beautiful cupola on trumpets at the crossing of the transept. Its harmonious proportions are a sign that it originally respected the golden ratio. The reconstruction of the nave in the 14th century, which obeyed a different module, kept the same aesthetic. The layout of the choir, transepts and bell tower is very regular. You have to admire the beautiful cut with sharp joints as well as the quality and the very fine grain of the stone of Montenoison.
It is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm.