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Origin and history

The Saint-Maurice d'Aubiac church, located in the southwest of the town of Verdelais (Gironde), is a Romanesque building built in the 12th century. It served as a place of worship for the hamlet of Aubiac and the "Bas Verdelais", but its use was compromised by recurrent floods, making it inaccessible four months a year. In 1655, the parish was transferred to the church of Notre-Dame de Verdelais, the future basilica, marking the gradual decline of Saint-Maurice.

In 1792 the church was officially abandoned for worship and converted into a stable, following a request by municipal officers in 1790. The stones of the building, partly from a Gallo-Roman villa destroyed during the barbaric invasions, were considered a time to pave a way. The apse, vaulted in cul-de-four, and the Romanesque structure survived despite this abandonment. The building was finally listed as a historical monument on 27 December 1973.

Before the 12th century, the parish of Aubiac already existed, as evidenced by the installation of the Grands Montains in the wood of Luke in 1160. The church initially depended on the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux, which exercised a right of patronage taken over in 1655 by the convent of Verdelais. The confraternity of Notre-Dame, founded in 1606, was established there before the final transfer of the cult. Today, the building remains a vestige of girondin religious heritage, marked by its turbulent history and Romanesque-gallo-Roman architecture.

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