Montrésor was the stronghold of Imbert de Bastarnay's family. He was adviser to several French kings and governor to Francis, Dauphin of France and son of Francis I. At the end of the 15th century he had the apartments of his fortified castle rebuilt on a rocky promontory overlooking the Indrois River. The building was converted in the 19th century.

In 1522, Bastarnay founded a collegiate church not far from his château. Establishing a pious foundation became fashionable in the Loire Valley. It involved building a church and providing for a small group of priests, the college of canons who would spend their lives praying for, amongst other things, the salvation of the founder and his family.

This collegiate church was built between 1522 and 1532. It was completed after Bastarnay's death in 1523. Its architecture remains medieval. Its walls are pierced with triple lancet windows, and it is surrounded by buttresses and crowned with a high roof. However, the portals and façades are abundantly decorated with early Renaissance elements: columns, narrative bas-reliefs and sculptures. The main façade is dominated by the motif of a large, high archway that encompasses the main entrance and a window, a typical element of churches around Tours at the time. Below the roof line, a string course extends around the entire building, juxtaposing busts of biblical characters with those of Antiquity and royal emblems.

Features of the interior include private chapels that open onto the choir and corridors leading to them inside the walls. They are covered with coffered vaults. Both stalls are decorated with medallions and Antiquity-inspired busts. Many stained-glass windows also date back to the 16th century. At the entrance, recumbent effigies of the founder, his wife and their son can be found. The three white marble figures lie on a black slab, the plinth surrounded by weeping figures in niches. The group used to be in the choir, but after being vandalised in the French Revolution it was moved and restored.