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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Mézin, located in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is a Catholic religious building whose origins date back to at least the eleventh century. Its architecture combines Romanesque elements, visible in the apse and arched apsidioles in cul-de-four, with Gothic additions such as the nave of the 13th-XIVth century, vaulted with warheads and decorated with carved capitals. The facade, flanked by two symmetrical round towers, and the north gate, topped by twelve niches housing the statues of the apostles, bear witness to its rich artistic and religious past.

The construction of the choir and transept probably began at the end of the 11th century, under the influence of the Saint-Sever yard, while the nave was built in two distinct fields: the first in the 13th century (up to the 3rd span), the second in the middle of the 14th century for the last span and the western facade. The church was originally linked to a Benedictine priory founded in the eighth century, mentioned in a papal bubble of 1077 as Cluny's addiction. This priory, whose convent buildings were destroyed after the Wars of Religion and a fire in 1837, shared with the city the seigneury of Mezin until 1607.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the church underwent several major restorations. In 1868 the architect Coëque-Verdier rebuilt the abside and the south arm of the transept, while Teulère completed the chorus and strengthened the foothills of the nave to stabilize the vaults. A fire in the bell tower in 1924 damaged the cross, requiring further intervention. These restorations, combined with the traces of the medieval countryside (the 14th century vaults, fantastic capitals of the gate), make this monument a complex testimony of the religious and architectural history of the South-West.

The site also preserves remains of its convent past, such as the sacristy formerly communicating with the Benedictine convent. The capitals, influenced by the art of Saint-Sever, and the niches of the northern gate – emptied of their statues during the Wars of Religion – recall the historical upheavals that marked Mezin. Today owned by the municipality, the church remains a place of worship and heritage, open to the visit in the historic center of the city.

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