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Origin and history

The Saint-Laurent church of Gabre, built in the 13th century by the Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, is distinguished by its sober architecture: a unique nave and a bell tower with three bays, reinforced by two side foothills. The gate in the middle of the wall, dated 1725 and adorned with the royal shield, bears witness to the transformations carried out under the Old Regime. An adjoining cemetery highlights its central role in community life, at 370 metres above sea level in the heart of the village.

In the 16th century Gabre, close to Mas-d'Azil (Protestant Fief), became a bastion of the Reformation. The church, converted into a temple around 1550, was returned to the Knights of Malta in 1598 after the edict of Nantes. The Protestant temple built in the meantime was demolished in 1668 by order of Louis XIV. The conflicts between the local glassmakers (gentile Protestants) and the Hospitallers, then the Knights of Malta, illustrate the religious tensions of the time.

The building underwent a major restoration in 1725, redefining its proportions and adding baroque elements such as the central pillar porch. The interior paintings and the path of the cross are restored around 2010. The bell tower and porch, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1995, house two bells and a carved stone around 1250, listed by the Palissy base. The church thus embodies almost eight centuries of religious and social history in Ariège.

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