Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Croix du Bouyssou, located in the Lot department, is a religious building, some of which dates back to the 11th century, although its main construction dates back to the 12th century. This primitive bedside, built in stoneware, was replaced by the present, while the nave and bell tower, characteristic of Romanesque art, were erected in the 12th century. A 16th century wall painting, representing the Last Judgment, adorns the Western Wall and is attributed to a travelling workshop active in the region, as evidenced by similar works in Soulomès and Lunegarde.

In 1327, the first rector of the church was mentioned, but no documents prior to 1700 remained. On that date, the building was in ruins, preventing any religious service. Major works took place in the 19th century: in 1835, the nuns of a nearby convent enlarged the southern chapel, and in 1872, a quotation revealed that the nave and apse, originally vaulted in stone, were covered with a floor. The vaults are rebuilt in brick, a northern chapel is added, and the floor of the nave is lowered to find the bases of the columns.

The architecture of the church is distinguished by its unique nave of two spans, the first of which was vaulted in a cradle and the second, square, supported a dome on pendants (replaced by a ceiling). The choir, finished with an apse in the vaulted hemicycle in cul-de-four, is flanked by side chapels. The Romanesque parts, including the bell tower with twin bays, have been classified as historical monuments since 1923. Historic capitals and traces of old windows testify to the successive changes in the building.

The masonry reveals two distinct phases: a primitive bedside in rubble (XI century?) and a reconstruction in medium sandstone apparatus (XII century). The bolt holes and homogeneous windows suggest a unified construction campaign for the nave and bell tower. Despite its degraded state in the 18th century, the church still housed a painted decoration in the 16th century, proof of its past importance. Today, it remains a major testimony of Romanesque architecture in Quercy, marked by subsequent adaptations linked to its community use.

External links