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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Romain church of Saint-Romain-de-Monpazier, built in the 12th and 13th centuries, has an unusual Romanesque architecture. Its plane combines a rectangular nave and a perpendicular choir, evoking a tower. The north wall, two metres thick, could have been anterior to the building and served as a watchtower. A defense chamber, accessible by a staircase in the thickness of the wall, surmounts the nave, while a lateral chapel was added in the sixteenth century south of the choir.

The nave, initially vaulted in the north-south direction, collapsed partially, leading to the reconstruction of its western facade with a foothill and a lambrished cradle. The bell tower-wall, pierced by two campanary bays, dominates the triumphal arch. The rectangular apse, after the nave, is illuminated by narrow windows. The church, classified as a historical monument in 1974, illustrates the adaptation of religious buildings to defensive functions in this border region of the Black Perigord.

The town of Saint-Romain-de-Monpazier, historically attached to the canton of Monpazier, is part of a hilly and forested landscape typical of the Black Perigord. Its territory, marked by clay soils susceptible to retreat-swelling, and crossed by Verona, reflects an ancient human occupation, linked to both agriculture and defence. The church, a communal property, bears witness to this medieval history where places of worship also served as refuges.

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