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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Michel de Goudargues, built around 1150, is a testimony of Romanesque and Gothic styles. Based on the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa, it was first an oratory erected in 781 by Guilhem, Count of Aquitaine, after his victory against the Saracens. The neighbouring Benedictine abbey, linked to Aniane, experienced jurisdictional and religious conflicts until the 18th century, notably with Cluny and the Chaise-Dieu.

The church, rebuilt in the 12th century after destruction, preserves a pentagonal apse decorated with archatures and historic capitals, like that of the two birds drinking with chalice. In the 19th century, its unique nave (37 m long) was consolidated after collapses in the 16th and 18th centuries. Its two bell towers, partially redone, frame a redesigned facade.

The abbey, devastated during the Albigois Crusade (1214–1230) and the Wars of Religion (1570–1590), lost its influence after the Reformation. Priors, holders of local courts, sold their rights to the family of Uzes in 1571, then to Jean de Pélegrin in 1578. The capitular hall, today a cultural space, and the chapel of Caseneuve (1115), integrated into a defense tower, remain as remains of the monastery.

The village developed around the abbey, whose monks built canals and moats for irrigation and protection. An oil mill, active until 1956, bears witness to this economic activity. The church, partially classified in 1939, embodies the architectural transformations and power struggles that marked the medieval Languedoc.

The capitals of the abside, mixing ancient and Christian motifs (like the tunic between two birds), reflect an archaic Romanesque art. The cul-de-four vault, adorned with trompe-l'oeil caissons, and the arcatures on engaged columns highlight the clunisian influence. Conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (from 1540) permanently weakened the priory, whose property was alienated after the Revolution.

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