Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame de Moirax came into being in 1049, when Guillaume Arnaud, the local lord, offered the abbey of Cluny a pre-existing church (probably of the ninth century) to found a Benedictine priory. His son, Pierre de Moirax, became his first prior. Construction of the current building began around 1060, after initial conflicts. The church adopts a Latin cross plan, with three circular apses and carved capitals, characteristic of Clunisian Romanesque art.

In the 17th century, the bell of the dome was restored in 1646, while the choir was reworked by the Tournié de Gourdon workshop, partially altering its lower parts. The convent buildings, rebuilt at that time, were sold as national property in 1794. Ranked a historic monument in 1846, the church, in poor condition in 1840, benefited from several restoration campaigns, including one conducted by volunteers of the Club du Vieux Manoir between 1970 and 1971.

Religion's wars also marked its history, although the details of the damage suffered remain unclear. The arches of the transept, a posterior addition whose date and motivation are unknown, illustrate the architectural evolutions of the site. Today, the church preserves remarkable Romanesque elements, such as its dome and capitals, testimonies of its monastic past and its role in medieval Guyenne.

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