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Origin and history

The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption of Vendoire, built in the 12th century, is a Charentais-style Romanesque building located in the Dordogne department. Its Latin cross plan, typical of medieval religious architecture, includes a unique nave covered in lambris, a false transept slightly salient, and a semicircular apse with a cul-de-four. The bell tower, pierced by columned bays and cubic capitals, dominates the cross of the transept, while the western, saintonge-like façade, has a three-piece portal in the middle of the circle framed blind arches. The carved capitals and the mouldings of the arches bear witness to a remarkable craftsmanship for the time.

The polygonal bedside, coupled with an apsidiole to the south, and the adjacent tower housing the steeple staircase, reflect medieval architectural adaptations. The nave, whose drip walls have been raised, retains traces of its original vault in the northwest corner. A major consolidation was undertaken in 1876 to preserve the structure, emphasizing its heritage importance. Classified as a Historical Monument in 1948, this church illustrates the Romanesque heritage of the region, mixing stone-cut and partially coated limestone bellows.

The western gate, adorned with columnettes with worked capitals, and the modern arched crib arched in a full-cindered cradle, reveal a superimposition of styles due to restorations. The archicvolt of the gate and the blind arches, finely carved, recall the artistic influence of the Saintonge school. Owned by the commune, the building remains a major architectural testimony of the twelfth century, anchored in the historical landscape of New Aquitaine.

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