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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Cybard de Cercles, located in La Tour-Blanche-Cercles in Dordogne, is a former Benedictine priory of the 12th century, originally attached to the Abbey of Saint-Cybard of Angoulême. Ranked a historic monument in 1840, it has a fortified structure with a crenelated dungeon to the west and a Gothic chapel added to the north of the nave. Its Gothic-style portal and vaults are based on about thirty carved capitals, while two bas-reliefs adorn the north transept.

The building, marked by successive transformations, preserves traces of its Conventual past: a 14th century door led to the cloister, now extinct. The western spans, dated from the 13th century, were bequeathed in the 16th and 17th centuries. After destruction during the Wars of Religion, the church was restored at the end of the 19th century by the architect Rapine, then in the early 2000s to stabilize the southern crusillon.

The site, mentioned since 1142 as a priory dependent on Saint-Cybard of Angoulême, lasted until the Hundred Years War. The Napoleonic cadastre of 1825 reveals the past existence of a convent building and a cloister, destroyed in the 19th century. Capitals and bas-reliefs could come from Angoumois, adding to its historical mystery.

The church, communal property, combines religious and defensive functions, typical of medieval buildings in the region. Its massive bell tower of the 17th century surmounts the cross of the transept, while the flat bedside, illuminated by a large broken window, bears witness to architectural evolutions over the centuries.

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