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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame de Bergerac, the main Catholic church of the city, was built between 1856 and 1865 in a neo-Gothic style, under the impulse of Abbé Julien Macerouze, parish priest of Saint-Jacques. This project is part of a Catholic revival during the Second Empire. The architect Paul Abadie, inspired by the plans of Viollet-le-Duc (too expensive for the municipality), designed an imposing cathedral-shaped building, culminating at 80 meters with an arrow visible from the whole city. The church was consecrated on 6 August 1865 by Cardinal Donnet, Archbishop of Bordeaux, in the presence of the Minister of Interior.

The church, which has been listed as a historical monument since 2002, is distinguished by its ambitious architecture: 96 metres long, a nave of 20 metres high, and a bell tower with three bells, including Marie-Immaculatee (2,383 kg). Its richly decorated interior includes a neo-Gothic high altar containing relics of holy martyrs, as well as two classified paintings of the Italian Renaissance: the Adoration of the Shepherds of Gaudenzio Ferrari and the Adoration of the Magi of Pordenone, inherited from the ancient church of St. James.

The stained glass windows (1872–79), by Edward Didron, illustrate the words of Christ and the figures of the Old Testament, while the sculptures are signed by Léon Baleyre and Michel-Pascal. The podium organ, built by Merklin-Schütze in 1865 and awarded at the Universal Exhibition of 1867, was restored in 1978. After ten years of work (2009–2019) on the bell tower and the arrow, the church remains a symbol of Bergerac's religious and architectural heritage.

The building now depends on the parish of Saint-Jacques-en-Bergeracois, under the authority of the diocese of Périgueux. Its location on a high point of the city, in a shopping district, strengthens its central role in local life, both spiritual and social. The festivities of his consecration in 1865, marked by fireworks, testify to his historic importance to the community.

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