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Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Médard-de-Belessse, originally dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was built at the end of the 11th century in a Romanesque style. Originally it belonged to the parish and then to the independent commune of Saint-Médard-de-Beausse, attached to Mont-de-Marsan in 1866. The building, consisting of a unique nave and a alveole wall-clocher, was accompanied by an awning porch, typical of regional architecture as at the church of Beaussiet in Mazerolles. A dedicated hospice welcomed the pilgrims of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, a vaulted room (salle Saint-Jean-Baptiste) and a carved shell above the entrance.

In 1569, the church was burned by Protestant troops during the Wars of Religion, requiring restoration in the seventeenth century. The front door, made in 1678 by carpenter J. Lalande, has walnut sculptures depicting Saint John the Baptist and Saint Anthony, two hermits. The baroque high altar (18th century) staged Saint Médard and Saint John the Baptist, with bas-reliefs illustrating episodes of his life (baptism of Christ, martyrdom). A painting of the Crucifixion, painted in 1840 by Louis Anselme Longa, completes this ensemble.

The church preserves traces of its hospitable and jacquarian past, like an eighteenth-century statue of St.Antoine Hermite, accompanied by a pig — a symbol linked to the Antonins, a medieval religious order authorized to raise pigs. The door of the nave, dated from the modern era, and a polychrome sign depicting Saint John the Baptist also recall its role in welcoming travelers. Today, it depends on the parish of Notre-Dame-des-Trois-Rivières.

Architecturally, the building illustrates the transitions between primitive novels (single nave, wall-clocher) and posterior additions (baroque decorations, restorations). Its history reflects the religious upheavals of the Landes, between Catholicism, Protestantism and Jacquarian traditions, while at the same time testifying to local community life, marked by hospitality and pilgrimages.

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