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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Saturnin church of Loubajac, located in the Hautes-Pyrénées, is a religious building marked by defensive architecture. Its massive bell tower, originally dungeon of an ancient castle, houses on the ground floor a Romanesque chapel that served as abside. The present nave was partially built in the 15th century, before the whole suffered a fire in 1569 during the religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. After this event, a reconstruction and embellishment campaign was carried out in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, adding two side chapels and extending the nave to the rostrum.

The 18th century transformations include the replacement of the old flat vault with a wooden cradle vault, painted with a blue starry sky. The murals, dating from the early 16th century, as well as the furniture of the 17th and 18th centuries, bear witness to the artistic richness of the building, linked to its dependence on the Abbey of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre. This neighbouring abbey offered protection and influence, contributing to the radiation of the monument. The church was listed as a historical monument in 1986, and then listed in 1994, including its paintings and its gate to the cemetery.

The building thus illustrates the architectural and religious evolutions of the region, mixing medieval heritage, traces of the wars of Religion and Baroque beautifications. Its status as communal property makes it today a preserved local heritage, open to the discovery of its turbulent history and sacred art.

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