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Origin and history

The church Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Brouage, built in the 1st quarter of the 17th century (1608), is a three-vessel rectangular building covered with a hollow tile roof. Its bell tower, to the west, is surmounted by a roof in slate pavilion. The Renaissance-style façade features three carved badges and a portal framed with Corinthian columns, topped by a triangular pediment and coat of arms. Inside, the nave and bottoms are covered with panelling, with a double row of Tuscan capital columns. The floor, paved, leads to two small doors giving access to the sacristy.

The church is closely linked to Franco-Canadian history, notably through the baptism of Samuel de Champlain (founder of Quebec City), attracting Canadian pilgrims. Abandoned as early as 1700, she underwent work on her bell tower in 1707 (by Luc Pascaud), 1746 (Engineer Guééthèque de la Frénie and entrepreneur Pierre Guiton), and 1757 (entrepreneur Bégorrat de Brouage). Disused during the Revolution, her funeral slabs were destroyed, and she served as a barn until 1830. Reopened to worship in the mid-19th century, it was again disused in 1909, before being restored thanks to a subscription by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Québec (6,000 F in 1910). The cult resumed in 1912.

Between 1982 and 2001, the church was enriched with commemorative glass windows celebrating the links between Brouage and Canada: the epic of Île Sainte-Croix (1982), the founding of Québec City (1983), Brouage (1991), Ontario under New France (1991), François de Montmorency (1995), and Quebec (2001). Ranked a Historic Monument in 1931, it now belongs to the commune and bears witness to an architectural and memorial heritage, between France and North America.

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