Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Merle-Leignec, mentioned since 1153 in the cartular of the Abbey of Ainay, was initially placed under the name of Notre-Dame before being dedicated to Saint-Ennemond after the 18th century. Its nave, built in the 12th century, is covered with a cradle full of hangers, while the choir and the collaterals, vaulted with warheads, date from the 15th century. The west facade and the bell tower, rebuilt at the same time, replace an ancient bell tower-wall above the triumphal arch.

In the 17th century, the sacristy was added in 1669, as evidenced by the date engraved above its door. The oculus of the facade and collaterals, probably dating back to 1823, as well as the 3rd southern span, built in 1844 by architect Louis Ennemond Buhet and entrepreneur Léonard Simonet, illustrate the subsequent transformations. The painted decorations, dating from the thirteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were restored in 1990-1991, revealing their historical richness.

The church, once surrounded by a cemetery destroyed in 1874, preserves remains of a missing chapel, re-used in the outbuildings of the presbytery. Ranked a historical monument in 1978, it now belongs to the commune and bears witness to the architectural and religious evolution of the region, from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

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