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Origin and history

Saint-Michel de Saint-Michel-de-Fronsac Church is a Roman Catholic church built in the 12th century on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman villa. His original plan included a carpented nave, a bell tower reinforced with flat foothills, and a vaulted apse in cul-de-four, typical of the Libournais. Seven arches in full hang, decorated with geometric motifs (diamond dots, saw teeth), rest on columns supporting a sculpted cornice. From 1171 onwards, the church depended on a priory linked to the Benedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame de Guitres, before being attached to the Jesuits of Bordeaux in 1613.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the span preceding the choir was vaulted with Gothic dogives, an innovation allowing the thrusts to be carried over to pillars and lighten the walls. A square bell tower with three bays per face is then erected above. In 1543, the nave frame was replaced by a third-point structure, and the gable wall was pierced by a gate. The 17th and 19th centuries saw major expansions: the addition of collateral (1600s), brick vaults (1860), and the reconstruction of the bell tower in neo-Gothic style (1867–69) to the location of the original Romanesque facade.

The interior preserves remarkable elements, such as a bentier of 1622 adorned with a Saint-Jacques shell, recalling the passage of a road of Compostela, and a wrought iron ramp (1777) commanded by parish priest Serres, style Louis XV. The 19th-century stained glass windows illustrate local saints (Sainte Quitterie, Saint Michael), while the furniture includes a neo-Gothic pulpit (1879) and carved altarpieces. The choir and bell tower have been listed as Historic Monuments since 1925, reflecting the architectural and historical richness of the site.

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