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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Moissac draws its origins from a Gallo-Roman villa of the third century, whose baths (balneary) were used to erect a first oratory. Archaeological excavations (2011-2012) revealed that the ancient walls, 9 meters high, corresponded to the frigidarium (now nave), while the choir occupied the place of the tepidarium and caldarium. The hypocaust (ground heating system) and the lateral basins were destroyed during the conversion into a church, probably in the 6th or 7th century, although the material traces mainly date from the 9th century, when a polygonal apse was added.

In the 9th century, the church, then dedicated to Saint Ansbert (second abbot of Moissac), underwent major improvements: opening windows in the north wall, rebuilding the western wall, and extending westward to a pre-existing fortified wall. A parish cemetery was built around the building in the 10th century. The 11th and 12th centuries saw the consolidation of the bedside and the addition of a fire, while a chapel of Our Lady, decorated with frescoes on the life of Christ, was joined in the 15th century on the south side. The Gothic gate was masked in the 17th century by a porch.

Sold as national property during the Revolution, the church was bought by the commune in 1862 and restored. The excavations of the 20th century (1919-1920 by Jules Mommeja, 1946-1947 by Armand Viré) revealed the extent of the ancient remains, leading to its classification to historical monuments in 1922 (renewed in 2023). The 14th century murals, discovered in the lateral chapel, were protected in 1953. The site, including the archaeological basement, is today a unique testimony of the continuity between Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

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