1000 Euros Cluny Abbey

Cluny Abbey, once the largest church in Christendom until St. Peter's Basilica surpassed it in the 16th century, was systematically demolished following the French Revolution — the stone sold off as building material by local contractors over several decades. By the time preservation efforts began in the 19th century, most of it was gone. This issue belongs to the Monnaie de Paris's ongoing series commemorating destroyed or threatened French architectural heritage, a program that has produced some of the heaviest bullion pieces in modern French minting.