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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Laurent-des-Prés, located in Tullins en Isère, is a religious building whose origins date back to at least the eleventh century. First mentioned in a charter in 1091, it was originally located outside the Tullins ramparts and surrounded by the communal cemetery. Its history is marked by a major reconstruction in the 12th century under the impulse of the Benedictines of the Abbey of Saint-Chef, which made it an emblematic place of the Dauphiné.

The bell tower, the only vestige of this Romanesque reconstruction, is a centrepiece of the monument. Unique in Europe, it has two sculpted geniuses at the corners of its tower, allegories of "Good" and "Evil", inspired by the medieval wheel of Fortune. These pagan elements, reinterpreted in a Christian context, symbolize the duality between misfortune and prosperity. The rest of the building, in Gothic style, dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, with a Cistercian chorus with a flat background added at the end of the 15th century.

Ranked a historical monument in 1930 for its bell tower and partially registered in 1965, the church is now attached to the parish of Notre-Dame des Noyeraies of the diocese of Grenoble. Its central location in Tullins, accessible from Tullins-Fures station, makes it a place of still active heritage and cult. The management of the site is the responsibility of the municipality, which ensures its preservation and openness to the public.

The historical sources underline its initial role as a parish church outside the ramparts, then as a building remodeled by the Benedictines. The charter of 1108 marks its attachment to the Abbey of Saint-Chef, while the description of 1497 attests to its structure close to the present state. These elements bear witness to the architectural and religious evolutions of the medieval Dauphiné.

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