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Origin and history

The Saint-Nicolas de Marcigny church, built around 1130 in a Romanesque style, was originally intended for the monks of the Priory of the Holy Trinity. It originally consisted of a nave, a choir topped by a bell tower and a semicircular apse. This bell tower was demolished between the 14th and 16th centuries, replaced by a bell tower on the west facade. The building became a parish church in 1620 after the abandonment of the former Saint-Nizier church.

In the 19th century, the church was deeply transformed: lateral naves were added between 1820 and 1906, and the apse was completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. The French Revolution led to the transfer of ecclesiastical property, but the building retained its cultural role. Only its facade, decorated with Romanesque and neo-Roman sculptures (such as the tympanum representing St. Nicholas and the three orphans), has been protected since 1926.

Inside, the church has a three-ship basilical structure, with carved capitals and an organ installed on a stand. The choir was rebuilt between 1927 and 1930, and restorations took place in 1937, 1950, and in 1986 for the bell tower and arrow, under the direction of architects Henri Gignoux and Dominique Peloni. Today, it remains an active Catholic place of worship, integrated into the parish of Saint-Hugues-en-Brionnais-Bords-de-Loire.

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