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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Parsac is a Roman Catholic church of the 11th and 12th centuries, located in the municipality of Montagne, Gironde. Built in three consecutive phases, it is distinguished by its bell tower with two superimposed domes and its simple plan, with a vaulted nave in a broken cradle and an apse in a hemicycle. The building, slightly remodeled after the Middle Ages, preserves sculpted Romanesque elements, especially on capitals and modillons.

The church is dedicated to Our Lady, as attests a dedication on the southern pillar of the triumphal arch. Mentioned as early as 1364 for her chaplains and in 1398 as parish of the Archpriested of Entre-Dordogne, she was under the control of the chapter of Saint-Emilion, which perceived part of the tithes until 1770. Disused after the French Revolution, it was reopened to worship on an indefinite date, before becoming a branch of Saint-Genès-de-Castillon in 1869, then an annex of Puisseguin in 1877.

Ranked a historic monument in 2002, the church is characterized by its western arched portal, adorned with historical Romanesque capitals, and its carved modillons, illustrating medieval themes such as lust, cursed trades or sacrilegious Eucharist. Inside, the nave, divided into three spans, features a dome under the bell tower and broken cradle vaults. The cul-de-four vaulted L.

The bell tower, of a barlong plan, houses two superimposed domes: the one on the ground floor, 10.20 meters high, rests on pendants, while the upper dome, with flattened blade, could be a reconstruction. The external models, although very eroded, reveal symbolic representations (men inverted, musicians, demonic animals), typical of Romanesque iconography. Two canonial dials, on the southern facade, recall its medieval liturgical use.

The church is surrounded by a cemetery, with a cross at the east end and a monument to the dead near the cross of crossroads, at the foot of the rocky promontory. Its history reflects the religious and administrative transformations of the region, from its medieval parish role to its attachment to the commune of Montagne in 1973, after the disappearance of the former commune of Parsac.

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