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Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Soulomès, located in the Lot in Occitanie, is a religious building whose origins date back to the 12th century. Originally dependent on the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Marcilhac-sur-Célé, it is mentioned in an act of 1232. The church was then transferred to the Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, becoming a commandory from 1315. The clocher tower, partially Romanesque, could be the vestige of a strong house linked to the abbot of Marcilhac.

After the Hundred Years' War, the church underwent important transformations: four side chapels were added in the 15th century, dedicated to Saint Michael, the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist and the Blessed Sacrament. The vaults of the nave and the northwest chapel were rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century, while the flat-side choir and the northeast chapel date from the late 15th or early 16th century. The west façade, including the gate dated 1802, was completely rebuilt in the early 19th century.

The church's major interest lies in its early 16th century murals, discovered in 1938 and restored from 1978. Directed by two separate workshops, they represent scenes of the Passion of Christ, a Last Judgment, and a Saint Michael terrorizing the demon. A donor, probably a commander of Soulomès, is represented with the cross of Malta, symbol of the Hospitallers. These paintings, classified in 1975, testify to the artistic and religious importance of the site.

The church also housed remarkable objects, such as a 13th century reliquary shawl, now preserved at the Museum of Sacred Art in Rocamadour, and two bells of the 16th and 16th centuries, classified in 1910. The 15th century presbytery has a wooden attic and a lauze blanket. The ensemble, classified as a historical monument in 1944, illustrates the architectural and spiritual evolution of a hospital commissioned in Quercy.

The Hospitallers marked the history of the place by residing there from 1315, transforming the parish church into a composite building, mixing Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements. The successive changes, especially after the Hundred Years' War, erased much of the original structure, leaving only a few traces as the base of the tower. The murals, by their quality and iconography, offer a rare testimony to the devotion and art of the region at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

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