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Origin and history

The church Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens de Colonzelle, located in the Drôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, is a Romanesque building built in the second half of the 12th century. It originally belonged to a priory affiliated with the order of Cluny from the 10th century, as evidenced by a donation of 945 by Giraud, bishop of Uzès. The present church, small, consists of a unique nave and a semicircular bedside, with a southern facade reinforced by foothills. Its sober architecture contrasts with the richness of its sculpted decoration, especially on the south door, where a Gallo-Roman lintel in use (IIth century AD) represents a river scene with barrels and a sailor.

The church preserves traces of a continuous occupation of the site since Antiquity, with archaeological remains attesting to a paleo-Christian necropolis (7th–VIIIth centuries) and a first funeral church. In the 14th century, the choir was decorated with murals (Apostles, Christ in majesty, Daniel in the lion's pit), now partially visible. The priory, secularized before 1306, passed under the authority of the bishop of Saint Paul-Trois-Châteaux. The building, registered in 1926 and then classified as a historical monument in 2009, underwent restorations (roofing in 1974) and flights, such as the sculpted tympanum around 1980.

The lintel of the south gate, laid backwards, comes from an ancient funeral monument and depicts a boat loaded with goods, a possible symbol of local economic life in Roman times. The task marks visible on the foothills, arches and windows reveal medieval construction techniques. Inside, the vaulted nave in cradle and cul-de-four cul-de-four houses formet arches and niches, while excavations uncovered sarcophagi of the 8th to 13th centuries, confirming the parish and cemetery function of the church.

The site of Colonzelle, mentioned in 1146 under the name of Decanus, was a Clunisian profit dependent on the priory of Saint-Saturnin-du-Port (Pont-Saint-Esprit). In the 13th century, the fief was disputed between the Lord of Grignan and the Church, before being secularized. Pastoral visits of the 15th and 16th centuries describe a priory in ruins, while a porch (frozen in the 19th century) was added to the west facade. The murals, rediscovered in the 20th century, and the archaeological remains make this a rare testimony of art and religious life in Drôme Provençal.

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