Saint Peter's Church of Tercis-les-Bains dans les Landes

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Origin and history

The Saint-Pierre de Tercis-les-Bains church is a neo-classical building built in the 19th century, located in the Landes department. Owned by the commune, it depends on the parish of Saint-Joseph-des-Barthes and the diocese of Aire and Dax. Its architecture, marked by a unique ship surrounded by arcade galleries, reflects the stylistic influences of its time. It is included in the general inventory of cultural heritage.

In 1819, Henri-Nicolas de Saint-Pée, Dax's local agent, launched the project to build the present church. The plans, finalized in 1821 by the departmental architect Augustin Arthaud, were executed between 1825 and 1831 by the entrepreneur Thévenin. The materials of the old church were reused, and although the construction site was officially completed in 1831, the bell tower, originally planned above the first span, was built only in 1852 by the municipal architect Boubé, according to a modified plan.

The building is distinguished by its structure in covered limestone rubble, with cut stone pillars. The rectangular room, illuminated by curved windows, houses a stand supported by Tuscan columns. Outside, the square bell tower, topped by an octagonal slate arrow, dominates the village's central square. The church is adjacent to a park, close to the town hall, and separated from the cemetery by aisle of Caprania.

The church bells, two of which date back to 1921, commemorate the 26 Tercisian soldiers who died during the First World War. Made by the Toulouse founder Amédée Vinel, they are decorated with religious motifs and symbolic friezes. A third bell, named in 1933 and founded by Marcel Fourcade, pays tribute to a local pilgrimage to Rome in 1932, reusing bronze from earlier bells (1877 or 1878).

The interior decor includes a 1921 stained glass window, "Our Lady of Buglose surrounded by two angels", made by painter-glasses Joseph and Georges Mauméjean. Inspired by Flemish and German works, it represents the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels with deployed wings. The church also houses a 19th-century cross road, a copy of the works of Victor Casimir Zier, as well as a grey of Raphael's Transfiguration, offered in 1891 by Paul Joseph Corta, painter and mayor of the commune.

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