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Origin and history

The Saint-Pierre de Gourdon church, located in the Lot en Occitanie, is a Gothic Languedoc building built between 1304 and 1509. It replaces an ancient Romanesque church destroyed at the end of the thirteenth century. The works began in 1304, with the completion of the nave and the south tower in 1311, under the supervision of master mason Pierre Descamps, who noted structural defects in the arches of the chapels. The north tower was completed in 1335, but the Hundred Years' War (from 1339) interrupted the work, leaving the facade unfinished.

The construction resumed in 1490 with the completion of the south tower by master mason Jean Daniel, followed by the construction of the large gate in 1509. The church suffered extensive damage in 1562 during the invasion of Captain Duras' Protestant troops. A conflict between the chapter of the church of Notre-Dame de l'Assumption du Vigan and the rector of Saint-Pierre delayed its restoration, deemed urgent in 1591. The mâchicoulis above the front door could date from this period. The repairs finally began in 1608.

Ranked in 1841 and regularly in 1906, Saint-Pierre church illustrates the stripped Gothic architecture of Languedoc. Its 41-metre nave, flanked by two 35-metre towers, dominates the Gourdon hill. The furniture includes an organ of 1887 in a baroque buffet of 1780, a 17th century altarpiece, and bas-reliefs of Tournié sculptors. The partially medieval stained glass windows and a 14th century sundial complete its heritage.

The building has a unique small craft, initially vaulted in a cradle, replaced by a structure after a collapse. The square bedside, surmounted by a bell tower with third-point bays, and the western massif with two towers recall Cahors Cathedral. The asymmetrical plan, with smaller chapels to the south, and the western portal topped by a disoriented rosaceous, testify to the construction campaigns spread over two centuries.

Founded in the 12th century and mentioned in 1143 as possession of the abbey of the Vigan, the church was rebuilt from 1303 thanks to a local tax. Pierre Deschamps, perhaps linked to Jean Deschamps (master of work at the Clermont cathedral), intervened in 1311 to evaluate the vaults. The missing archives limit knowledge of its central medieval history, but its parish role and dependence on the bishop of Cahors are attested.

The church, a communal property since its classification in 1906, houses classified furniture, including an antependium of the Tournié and a 17th century bentier. The repair of the stained glass windows in 1610 by Olivier Rey, a local glassmaker, and the relocation of the organ in 1987 underline his continuous maintenance. Despite religious conflicts and damage, it remains a preserved example of medieval and modern religious architecture in Quercy.

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