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Origin and history

The church of the Nativity-de-Notre-Dame de Beaumarches, located in Gers in Occitanie, is a Gothic building built mainly in the 14th century, with significant additions in the 16th century. It follows a Toulouse plane, characterized by a single nave and a polygonal choir. Its bell tower-porch, inspired by Villefranche-de-Rouergue, dominates the ensemble and has a frieze of grimacious figures. The church has been included in the inventory of historical monuments since 1926, with the exception of its sacristy.

The bedside, of polygonal plane and narrower than the nave, dates from the 14th century and carries the royal arms of Philip the Bel, especially on the arch keys. The nave, rebuilt in the 15th century under the impulse of the archbishop of Auch Philippe de Lévis, incorporates Gothic vaults and a vaulted porch on crosses of warheads. This porch, added in the 16th century, features sculptures of the attributes of the four Evangelists and a lily flower shield. A southern chapel, built around 1531, completes the building.

The church was fortified in the 16th century, with the addition of cannon guns, a round road and living rooms above the southern chapel. These adjustments reflect the tensions of the religious wars, although the extent of the destruction mentioned remains uncertain. The cemetery, originally adjacent to the church, had disappeared according to the cadastral plan of 1834, but a pool near the bell tower could be a vestige of a protective ditch. The building, in the medium sandstone apparatus, combines defensive and religious elements, testifying to its central role in the bastide of Beaumarches.

Inside, the choir houses a carved stone master altar and three stained glass windows depicting Marian scenes: the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation and the Assumption. These stained glass windows, located in the five-sided apse, illustrate the importance attached to the Virgin Mary in local devotion. The nave, of trapezoidal plane, and the bell tower-porch, equipped with a staircase with screws, show a neat masonry, contrasting with the lesser regularity of the bedside. The whole reflects a religious, defensive and community architecture, typical of the bastides of the South West.

The church of Beaumarches, although partially modified over the centuries, preserves remarkable medieval elements, such as the carved arch keys or the ass-de-lampe of the porch. Its inscription in the Historic Monuments in 1926 underscores its heritage value, both for its architecture and for its furniture, some of which are referenced in the Palissy base. Today owned by the commune, it remains a major testimony of the religious and urban history of the region.

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