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Origin and history

Saint-Pierre de Lesgor Church, built in the 12th century (circa 1120), is a Catholic building located in the Landes, New Aquitaine. Its massive architecture, marked by a dungeon and raised walls, reflects its dual use: place of worship and defensive bastille. The region, which became English in 1152 after the marriage of Alienor d'Aquitaine with Henri Plantagenet, was a strategic issue during the Hundred Years War (from 1337). The English strengthened the church, turning its tower into a dungeon and adding archeries and a round path to resist the besiegants.

In the 14th century, the church was enhanced by garluch (local stone), as evidenced by the differences in colour on the tower. The ogival door, protected by a bow, and the Romanesque foothills shouldering the nave illustrate military adaptations. In 1453, the end of the Hundred Years' War gave Aquitaine to France, putting an end to its active defensive role. However, the church was still under attack, as in 1569, when it was burned by Protestants in Montgomery during the Wars of Religion.

The interior, restored in 1990, retains a white marble high altar of the Pyrenees and traces of an underground evacuation dug behind the altar. The stained glass windows, including one of the early twentieth century by Bergès (Toulouse), represent Saint Peter, patron saint of Lesgor. Classified as a Historic Monument in 1970, the church is visited by appointment, offering a rare testimony of the fortified churches of the Landes.

Its semicircular bedside, illuminated by two windows, and its eroded modillons recall its Romanesque origin. The north wall, pierced by murderers and cannon guns, as well as the judas of the inner door, underline its defensive system. The current door (2018) replaces a model of 1730, now kept upstairs near the bells. The ensemble, a communal property, is a unique example in the Landes of religious architecture with a military vocation.

Historical sources, such as the works of Yves Bruand (1960) or the departmental archives, confirm his status as an ecclesiastical fortress. The elevation of the fourteenth century, with its round archery path, and the transformation of the bell tower into a dungeon, make it an emblematic monument of medieval tensions between English and French in Gascony.

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