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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Prioral Church of Notre-Dame de Tourdan, mentioned in the 11th century, forms with its priory a major architectural ensemble of Revel-Tourdan in Isère. The building, of Romanesque origin (nef and bell tower of the 12th century), was renovated in the 16th and 18th centuries, with a Gothic choir rebuilt by Prior Jean d'Ancezune. The excavations of the 1980s revealed two paleo-Christian epitaphs of the sixth century, now embedded in the entrance wall.

The priory, occupied until the Revolution, followed the Benedictine rule. Its portal organized the buildings in "U", including barn, cisterns and garden. The west façade of the church retains a modified Romanesque window in 1860, while the Romanesque portal was restored in Gothic style between the 14th and 15th centuries. A twin tower, extinct, once completed the symmetry of the whole.

Inside, the nave houses 15th century murals, including a Crucifixion and an Assumption of the Virgin in the seigneurial chapel. These frescoes, made in emergency around 1490 during a diocesan council linked to the plague, are among the most remarkable ensembles in the region. The furniture includes an 18th-century high altar and tabernacle, classified as Historical Monuments, coming from the Augustinian convent of Beaurepaire.

The church, a place of parish worship until the eighteenth century, was restored from 2001 to reveal its painted decorations and furniture. The coat of arms of Prior Jean d'Ancezune, visible in the choir, testify to his role in the transformations of the sixteenth century. The site, partly privately owned, was listed at the Historic Monuments in 2011 for its church, facades, roofs and adjacent parcels.

Archaeological excavations also revealed a liter of burial and Gallo-Roman remains, confirming an ancient occupation of the site. A tombstone of 1753 and a plaque commemorating World War I complete the interior heritage. The bell tower, in the Viennese style in molasse, dominates a cemetery still in use after the parish meeting in 1833.

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