Church à Saint-Romain-de-Surieu dans l'Isère

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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Surieu, also known as the Church of Sainte-Marie, is a Romanesque building built between the 11th and 12th centuries on the promontory of the old village of Surieu, in the present commune of Saint-Romain-de-Surieu (Isère). It is associated with a castral site, with only a round tower and partial ramparts. Its location suggests an origin of a castral chapel, linked to the missing castle, former capital town. The village of Surieu, built around this castle, declines from the end of the 14th century to the benefit of Saint-Romain-de-Surieu and La Chapelle-de-Surieu, located closer to the communication axes and the river Sanne. Despite this decline, artisanal activity persists on the site, as evidenced by the excavations of 1980-1983 revealing active potter shops from the 11th to the 16th century.

The first written mention of the chapel dates back to 908, but it is a charter of 1075 that quotes it with certainty under the name of Saint Mary or Mary Mother of God. It acquired a parish register only in the 18th century and became a parish church only after a major restoration in the late 19th century. A second restoration took place in the 20th century. In 1980, the town hall offered the site to the Carmelites, who established a monastery around the church. Since then, a community of about fifteen nuns, originally from Paray-le-Monial, has resided there, while maintaining public access to the chapel, now known as Notre-Dame. The building has been listed for historical monuments since 19 October 1927.

The church architecture, oriented and simple plan, includes a non vaulted nave followed by a choir with a vaulted span of ridges, extended by a cul-de-four apse. The dimensions reach about 25 meters long for 10 meters wide. The nave is separated from the choir by a triumphal arch in the middle of the arch, resting on canned square pillars. Although most elevations date from restorations, elements of the 11th century are reused, especially in the span of the choir. The west facade features a main door surmounted by a geometric archvolt and a carved lintel of interlaces and a circled cross. Inside, a classified 12th century white marble baptismal tank recalls that the parishioners of Saint-Romain once went up to Notre-Dame for baptisms. A plaque also commemorates the building's rise in 1871 by Joseph de Faure.

The bell tower, rectangular in shape, is pierced on the top floor of six pairs of baged windows. Backed to the north face, it dominates the whole. The church now houses a wooden monastic fence delimiting the Carmelite space. Archaeological excavations have also revealed traces of a hotel, a cauldron and a marshal-ferrant, illustrating the persistence of an economic life on the site despite the decline of the medieval village.

Since 1984, the Carmelite monastery has animated the place, perpetuating a spiritual vocation that was more than a millennium old. The church, although restored, preserves traces of its medieval past, between religious function, defensive role and artisanal activity. Its inscription in the historical monuments in 1927 underlines its heritage importance, both for its Romanesque architecture and for its history linked to the feudal and monastic organization of the region.

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