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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Champeaux-et-la-Chapelle-Pommier, mentioned for the first time in the 13th century under the name Champeus in a stiletto, is before that date. Its portal, built in the 14th century, is surmounted by an oculus added to the 19th century. The building, originally a novel with a unique nave, underwent major transformations: a northern lateral chapel, of Gothic style, was added to the 15th century or to the Renaissance, while its lamp-ends, adorned by the Fayolle family, were hammered in 1793 during the French Revolution. The adjacent cemetery, considered unhealthy, was moved in 1863 on the other bank of the Nizonne River.

Church architecture combines Romanesque and Gothic elements. Oriented east-west, it has a rectangular bell tower resting on a dome supported by four pillars carved of foliage. The nave, covered with two-sided roofs, opens on a choir illuminated by three Romanesque bays, finished with a flat bedside. The remarkable furniture includes a door of sacristy painted in the seventeenth century, an 18th century procession cross, and a 19th century chalice, all classified as historical monuments in 1975. The church itself has been registered since September 27, 1948.

The site, located in the north of the Dordogne (former Aquitaine region), reflects the architectural and social developments of the region. The lateral chapel, dedicated to a local family (the Fayolles), illustrates the influence of lords on religious buildings. The successive modifications — medieval portal, modern oculus, revolutionary martelement — bear witness to the political and cultural upheavals that marked this rural territory, now integrated into the new commune of Mareuil in Périgord.

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