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Origin and history

The Saint-Simon church of Saint-Pé-Saint-Simon is a Roman Catholic church built in the late 11th or the first half of the 12th century, as evidenced by its two capitals of origin. This monument, located in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, features a unique nave and flat bedside, characteristic of rural Romanesque architecture. Its triangular bell tower-wall, supported by foothills, and its hexagonal tower with spiral staircases, equipped with archeries, reveal an added defensive function in the 14th century, a period marked by the tensions of the Hundred Years' War in this border region between English and French domains.

In the 15th century, the church was enriched with a body of southern houses, pierced by cannons and accessible by lintel doors in a braid, reflecting the persistent defensive needs. The southern chapel, vaulted with warheads, and the sacristy were built in 1546 by the mason Bernard de Guillaume, as indicated by the engraved date. These late additions, as well as the western portal, bear witness to a stylistic evolution towards the Renaissance, while preserving defensive elements such as the archères en croix patté. The adjoining cemetery, surrounded by a wall pierced by cannons, highlights the fortified character of the whole, typical of the rural churches of this time found.

Subsequent transformations included the reconstruction of the vault of the chapel around 1823, marked by a painted decoration, and the addition of a brick vault in the nave in 1905 by the architect Courau. These modifications meet structural and aesthetic needs, while preserving medieval elements such as 18th century paintings. The designation of the building as Historic Monuments in 2021 recognizes its heritage value, linked to its complex history, mixing religious, defensive and community functions in the Aquitaine Southwest.

The local historical context is marked by the meeting in 1839 of the former parishes of Saint-Pé-de-Boulogne — an English bastide of the 14th century — and Saint-Simon, forming the present commune. This merger reflects the post-revolutionary territorial recompositions, in a region where medieval remains, such as this fortified church, recall the conflicts between the kingdoms of France and England. The presence of cannonmakers and archers illustrates the adaptation of places of worship to an unstable environment, where security and spirituality coexisted.

The church of Saint-Simon, with its closed cemetery and its enclosure wall, also embodies the spatial organization of rural communities around their place of worship. The funerary liters visible on the outside and successive architectural changes (voûts, staircases, houses) reveal a continuous occupation and an adaptation to liturgical and defensive needs. Its recent inscription among the Historical Monuments highlights its role as a witness to the historical, artistic and social dynamics of medieval and modern Gascogne.

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