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Origin and history

The Saint-Martin church of Auxey-Duresses, located in the Côte-d'Or department in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is a religious building built mainly in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is distinguished by its steeple in limestone tuff, typical of the region, and its location on the old position of a castle destroyed in 1595 by the leaguers. This monument, inscribed in the Historical Monuments since 1927, bears witness to an architecture combining defensive and religious elements, with traces of arches still visible on the bedside and a side chapel.

The church, oriented and plan in Latin cross, is flanked by two lateral chapels to the north and a sacristy along the choir. Its low arched portal, surmounted by an oculus, and its nave covered with a low cradle reflect late Gothic influences. Inside, masonry vaults, mentioned in parish registers, were said to have served as mass graves in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially for children and women who died in childbirth. These vaults, explored in 1924, contained bones and illustrated funeral practices of the time.

The history of the church is marked by several phases of construction and modification. An archive of 1223 already mentions a "new church", integrated into a fortress whose ditches were filled in 1771. The nave was rebuilt at that time, while the sacristy was added in 1703. The chapels forming the transept were enlarged between 1839 and 1846, during major renovations. The bell tower, mainly dated from the 15th century, dominates the building with its octagonal tuff arrow and pinnacles decorated with squid.

The church was initially surrounded by a cemetery, and a monumental cross, now displaced, was once near the bedside. The residual defensive elements, such as the archeries, recall its origin linked to a fortress destroyed at the end of the sixteenth century (1593). These architectural and historical details make the Church of Saint Martin a valuable testimony to the religious, military and social evolution of Burgundy.

The protection of the building in 1927 specifically concerns its bell tower, recognized for its heritage value. The church remains an active place of worship, while attracting visitors for its architecture and history, intimately linked to that of the village of Auxey-Duresses and the Grand Crus road.

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