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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Côme-Saint-Damien, located in the Corrèze department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is a former Priory of the 12th century. It preserves vestiges of this period, especially in its bell tower-porch, although its present structure, with a vaulted nave on dogives crosses and collaterals, dates mainly from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The defence tower, known as the Caesar Tower, which houses the choir and a weapons room, illustrates the military adaptations associated with the Wars of Religion, its summit having been replaced by a clock campanile after its partial destruction.

The building was listed as historical monuments on 20 January 1969 for its hybrid architecture, mixing religious and defensive elements. Inside, two objects are protected: a Eucharistic butt of the late seventeenth century and a quest dish adorned with an Annunciation, classified respectively in 1908 and 1970. These elements reflect both the liturgical heritage and the historical upheavals suffered by the building, as evidenced also by the stone screw staircase leading to the old weapons room.

The church initially depended on Saint-Géraud d-Aurillac, an influential priory in the region. Its sacristy, added later, and the modifications made to the Caesar tower underline the architectural and functional evolutions over the centuries. Today owned by the municipality of Auriac, it remains a marker of the Correzian heritage, combining religious history, medieval conflicts and subsequent adaptations.

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