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Origin and history

The Saint-Vit church of Puycalvel, probably dedicated to Saint Avit, is a religious building located in the village of Puycalvel, on the municipality of Lamothe-Cassel (Lot). Its twin-ressalt gate, characteristic of the 12th century, suggests a Romanesque origin, although the bedside can date from the 13th century. The building shows early signs of structural disorders, including a flood of the triumphal arch to the north, probably aggravated by the Hundred Years' War, leaving the church in poor condition at its end.

In the 15th century, the church underwent major changes. In 1485 Sébélie de Lagarde asked her husband, Jean de Gauléjac, lord of Puycalvel, to build an adjoining chapel to the north, entrusted to the mason Tranqua salt. This chapel, forming today the north side, is carried out according to the plans of Bertrand Bodet, local vicar. A second chapel, to the south, is built simultaneously, as evidenced by similar prismatic veins. The vault of the nave in dogive crosses, later (ca. 1500 or early 16th century), replaces a primitive Romanesque vault.

The church now consists of two juxtaposed naves, a barlong bedside, and a bell tower-wall raised above the triumphal arch. The Romanesque portal, surmounted by a common porch with the southern chapel, contrasts with Gothic chapels. Materials vary: cut stone for the bedside and gate, limestone bells for the southern chapel, and lauzes for the cover of the abside. Ranked a Historical Monument in 1927, it illustrates medieval architectural evolution in Quercy.

The coat of arms painted in the northern chapel, including the weapons of the Gauléjac, recall the seigneurial patronage. The vaults of the chapels, with prismatic veins, fall on polygonal caps, while those of the nave, posterior, have double throat ribs. These successive additions reflect the liturgical needs and ambitions of the local lords, in a post-war context of One Hundred Years marked by the reconstruction and affirmation of noble power.

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