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Origin and history

The Saint-Pierre de Froidefontaine church, located in the Sundgau south-east of Belfort, is a 12th century Romanesque building dedicated to Saint Peter. It originally belonged to the Clunisian priory founded in 1105 by Ermentrude, widow of Count Thierry de Montbéliard, sister of Pope Calixte II and Archbishop of Besançon Hugues II. This priory, built in the 12th century, experienced a period of decline in the 16th and 17th centuries before being entrusted to the Jesuits of Ensisheim in 1636 by Archduke Leopold of Habsburg, who had inherited the confession.

The priory was restored in the 17th century, with work on the nave and the construction of a building to the north in 1720. After the Jesuits were abolished in 1765, the property passed to the Collège royal de Colmar until the Revolution. In the 19th century, major changes took place: two abbatial buildings were destroyed, the first spans of the nave were demolished, and a new facade was designed in 1833 by Aristide Poisat. Romanesque elements, such as the southern apsidiole and the south arm of the transept, disappeared before the Revolution.

The church preserves a basilica vessel with nave and low side, with four bays of arcades in the middle hanger resting on cylindrical piles. The cubic capitals of the first span and the semi-circle apse, covered with a cul-de-four arch, illustrate the Rhine influence. Outside, the apse is decorated with a three-headed sculpted cornice. Excavations revealed remains of Romanesque developments, while works in the 20th century (1953, 1970-1980) partially altered the building.

The church has been protected since 1926 for its apse, and then in full in 2019, including the archaeological soils of the priory. It is now owned by the commune of Froidefontaine. Its Romanesque architecture, marked by massive columns and carved impostes, brings it closer to other churches in the Sundgau, such as Feldbach, bearing witness to a rich medieval religious and artistic heritage.

The sculpted elements discovered on the outskirts, as well as the archaeological remains, underline the historic importance of the site. René Tournier sees it as a rhenish stylistic influence, characteristic of the Romanesque churches of this border region between Franche-Comté and Alsace. These particularities make it a key monument to understand Romanesque art and local monastic history.

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