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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Church of Saint Martin of Laroque-d-Olmes, also known as the Church of the Blessed Sacrament or Our Lady of Mercadal, was built in the 14th century on the site of an ancient Romanesque church. This place marked in 1163 the signature of a temporary treaty between Raymond V of Toulouse and Raymond Trencavel, Viscount of Carcassonne, sealing territorial tensions between Counts of Foix, Toulouse, and Viscounts of Carcassonne. The church became a priory dependent on the Saint-Sernin Abbey of Toulouse in the 13th century, although absent from its cartular before 1200. Its economic importance grew with the local drapier boom in the late 13th century, before declining during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion.

The southern Gothic construction is characterized by a unique nave flanked by side chapels, a choir illuminated by seven sling windows, and an octagonal bell tower with two floors of bays. The gate, adorned with three archvolts and plant capitals, is preceded by a vaulted porch with carved capes of angel heads. Inside, ten remarkable works are classified, including a statue of the Penitents, a mural painting of the Baptism of Christ, and baptismal fonts. The church, registered as a historical monument in 2001, also preserves murals in its Baptistery and a Gonzales organ installed in 2004, originally from the Royal Chapel of Versailles.

Church history reflects feudal and religious conflicts in the region. In the 16th century, it underwent architectural interventions, then major redevelopments in the 19th century, such as the vaulting of the nave in 1885, leading to its temporary decommissioning. Its bell tower, with gargoyles and jewels, as well as its old nailed carpentry, bear witness to its medieval heritage. The parish remained under the appointment of the chapter of Saint-Sernin until the Revolution, stressing its anchoring in the Toulouse ecclesiastical structures.

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