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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Marcel de Fontfoilhouse, located 645 meters above sea level in the commune of Plantiers (Gard), is a former Romanesque priory of the 12th and 16th centuries. Built in a local schist by Benedictine monks of Saint-André-de-Valborgne, it served as a stage on transhumance drails between the Causses and the Mediterranean. Its toponym, "fountain leafy", evokes its wooded environment, while its architecture blends vaulted nave into a broken cradle, apse of the 12th century, and bell tower added in 1503.

The church, mentioned in 1249 under the name Ecclesia Sancti-Marcelli de Fonte-folhoso, was linked to the Abbey of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. Piled during the Wars of Religion and burned in 1702 during the Camisard revolt, it was restored in 1723 before being abandoned after the Revolution. A bell of twenty quintals (1,000 kg) was attested to in 1674, and the site, registered with the Historic Monuments in 1986, remained accessible via hiking trails.

The monks practiced seric farming and the cultivation of chestnut trees, typical activities of the Cevennes. The valley, crossed by GRs, belonged to the "Cevenne des Cevennes", an area of historical sheep transhumance. The building, owned by the commune, benefited from restorations in the 1980s. Its schist lauze apparatus, characteristic of the high Cevennes, bears witness to the local techniques of dry lime stone.

Saint-Marcel de Fontfoilhouse was the name of the municipality until 1874, reflecting its past importance. The church lost its parish status in 1802 with the Concordat, but its registration in 1986 allowed its preservation. Today, a local association and the town hall oversee it, perpetuating its role as an emblematic Cevenol heritage.

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