The church Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte of Saint-Cirgues-de-Malbert, built in the 11th-XIIth centuries, is one of the oldest witnesses of the Christian settlement in Haute-Auvergne, an area evangelized very early between the 6th and 8th centuries. Its establishment is explained by the presence of a former prioress dependent on the diocese of Saint-Flour, attesting to an early and lasting religious organization. Nearby, the command office of the Chaufranche Hospital (XII-11th centuries), attached to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, highlights the strategic importance of the sector in the Middle Ages. The village, located in the Pays de Salers, occupies a pivotal position between Salers and Aurillac, on the first foothills of the Cantal Mountains, slightly high and oriented towards the Puy Mary, 22 km away from the bird flight.
Church architecture reflects this long and continuous history. Its simple Romanesque plan, typical of the auvergnat rural sanctuaries, features a compact and harmonious silhouette, a bell tower-peigne rebuilt in 1812 and a robust volcanic stone masonry. The interior preserves remarkable murals of the 16th-17th centuries depicting Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Cyr and Saint Julitte, as well as the painted decorations of the ceiling of the nave (17th-15th centuries). Today, the church belongs to the diocese of Saint-Flour and the parish of Saint-Paul-des-Quatre-Rivières, welcoming occasional masses and various cultural events: concerts, choirs, poetic recitations.
In 2026 the church of Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte was the object of a restoration of the facades and the consolidation of the masonries. It is well established in the religious history of the Pays de Salers in Haute-Auvergne and will be preserved in the heart of the village.
