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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Tauves, dedicated to the Nativity, is a Catholic building located in the centre of the village of Tauves, in the department of Puy-de-Dôme, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Built from the end of the 12th century, it has a nave of five spans completed by a polygonal apse, with broken cradle vaults and bottoms with cribs cut to clear the keys of the archvolts. The church was mentioned as early as 1095 in a bubble of Pope Urban II as possession of the Clunisian priory of Sauxillanges, although the current building did not keep any trace of that period.

In the 14th century, the church was fortified to meet the defensive needs of the time: a breech was added over the northern gate, and mâchicoulis were installed above the western gate, partially masking the gate. A scald, with a murderer, remains in the northwest corner. These arrangements reflect the tensions and protection needs characteristic of this period found in Auvergne. In the 15th century, the choir and the first span were rebuilt with arches on cross of warheads, marking an evolution towards the Gothic style.

The building underwent major changes in the 18th century, including the addition of a sacristy in 1730 and the reshuffle of the foothills of the south wall, where the anagram of Christ (IHS) was engraved. During the Revolution, the church was closed and transformed into a decader temple. The bell tower, demolished at that time, caused extensive damage to the cover, requiring restorations from 1837. These works include the reconstruction of the bell tower floor, the construction of an arrow, and the enhancement of the drip walls to support a new structure. The foundations of the north wall, demolished by the lowering of the level of the square to build the town hall, are taken up as sub-works.

Listed as a historic monument on February 11, 1908, Notre-Dame de Tauves Church illustrates the architectural evolutions and functional adaptations of an auvergnat religious building, from Romanesque origins to Gothic changes and medieval fortifications. Today, it remains a major testimony of the religious and defensive heritage of the region, marked by its clunisian history and successive transformations.

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