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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Jacques de Rouillac, located in the eponymous hamlet of the municipality of Gimbrède (Gers, Occitanie), is a religious building of Romanesque origin, built in the 12th century. Its history seems to be inseparable from that of the Château de Rouillac, on which it is contemporary and probably dependent. The orientation of its unique nave, completed by a semicircular bedside, and the presence of an ancient western entrance reflect its medieval architecture. A circular projection on the north facade still marks the location of the baptismal fonts, testifying to its parish vocation from its foundation.

In the 17th century, the church underwent major changes in the classical style: an arcade porch in the middle of the hanger was added to the south wall, topped by a bell tower-wall with three bays and a rounded pediment. A quadrangular sacristy is grafted northwest of the bedside, while a square chapel protrudes on the south wall. Inside, an 18th-century altarpiece adorns the choir, dominated by a canvas depicting Christ in a cross framed by the Virgin and Saint James, patron saint of the church. The murals of the four saints, including Saint Peter, probably date from the same period.

The church, originally in the heart of the former commune of Rouillac (decked in Gimbrède in 1823), has been protected since 1990 by an inscription in the Inventory of Historical Monuments. Its roof in canal tiles, bordered by a genoese, and its rare Romanesque bays in the middle of the hangar recall its medieval heritage, while the classic additions illustrate its evolution over the centuries. The immediate proximity of the castle suggests a central role in the seigneurial and religious life of the hamlet.

The protected elements include the structure itself (nef, bedside, porch, bell tower-wall) as well as its liturgical furniture, such as the altarpiece. Owned by the municipality of Gimbrède, the church remains an architectural testimony of the transformations between the Middle Ages and the Modern Ages in Gers. Its present state thus combines Romanesque austerity and Baroque ornaments, reflecting the historical strata of this rural Occitan territory.

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