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Origin and history

The church Saint-Salvy de Girossens, mentioned from the 12th century, was given in 1219 to the collegiate Saint-Salvy d'Albi by Sicard Frotier to facilitate the entry of his son in canonies. Under the impetus of the abbots of Albi, its Gothic construction began in the 13th century, as part of the bastide founded by Amalric de Lautrec. Pope Honorius III granted him a privilege that same year, and it became the seat of a prioress united with the mensa of the Canons in 1718. The building, looted during the Wars of Religion (1562), was rebuilt from the end of the sixteenth century, with a pentagonal bedside and enhanced vaults.

The original Gothic gate, moved west in 1702 and protected by a porch, remains despite the erosion of its sculptures. Lateral chapels, including those dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Ruffine, were added in the seventeenth century, especially after the plague epidemic of 1628. The Saint-Roch chapel, rebuilt in 1727 by the parish priest Joseph Castanier, housed a brotherhood dedicated to the saint. The church, closed in 1794 and transformed into a Temple of Reason, was restored in the nineteenth century: the sacristies surrounding the choir were built between 1856 and 1862 thanks to a gift from Baroness Reille, while the bell tower, partially medieval, was repaired around 1870.

The murals of the sanctuary, preserved in the upper part, illustrate the seven sacraments with winged characters bearing Gothic phylacteries. The Eucharist is represented twice, stressing its importance. The last chapels were erected between 1855 and 1875 under the impulse of Abbé Capus. The Italian painter Morelli intervened in 1842 to decorate some chapels. The building, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1970, thus blends medieval heritage, postwar reconstructions of Religion and beautifications of the 19th and 20th centuries.

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