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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church Notre-Dame-de-Lasplanques de Tanus, built in the 12th century in a Romanesque style, rises on a rocky spur overlooking the Viaur. Built in local rubble, it depended on the abbey of Conques as early as 1062, after it was bought by the priest Deodat from the family of Andouca. The site, mentioned in 1062 under the name of Notre-Dame de Belmont, served as a refuge for the inhabitants during the conflicts, as during the Hundred Years' War (1381), when English captain Mauléon settled there for three years. The church, the centre of a medieval village of twenty houses, was then a real stronghold.

In the 17th century, the building was enriched with frescoes (1696) and baroque ornaments, now very degraded. After the abandonment of the village at the end of the Hundred Years War, the church declined: its furniture was transferred in 1860 to Notre-Dame des Fournials (Montredon-Labessonnié), and collapses occurred in 1885. A fire destroyed the roof of the bell tower in 1935. However, his classification in 1913 allowed partial restorations, especially in 1943 by hidden workers of the STO, who consolidated the vaults and altered the roof.

The architecture combines a nave with a low side, a central apse flanked by absidioles, and a bell tower with imposing niches. The outside walls of the choir have Lombardic bands, while the interior preserves remains of murals (busts of saints, Holy Family). Local materials (gnesis, shale) and successive modifications (walled oculi, added berries) bear witness to a turbulent history, between religious, defensive and modern restoration.

Communal property since its classification, the church remains a rare testimony of the late novel in the Tarn, marked by the influences of Conques and d-Ambialet. The last restorations (2001-2004) secured the roof, but the building kept traces of its vicissitudes, from medieval wars to the abandonment of the 19th century.

The adjacent cemetery, surrounded by a wooden and shale fence, houses two tombstones, including that of François Bardy (1917). Access to the church is via a schist staircase, highlighting its isolation on its promontory. Today, the site offers a panorama of the meanderings of the Viaur, while recalling its past role as sanctuary and village fortress.

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