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Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Radegonde, located in the heart of the eponymous village of Aveyron, is a 13th century Gothic building, profoundly redesigned in the 14th and 15th centuries to become a fortified church. Its origins date back to a modest Romanesque church, whose first two spans of the nave remain. In the 13th century, the choir and the forerunner were rebuilt in Gothic style, decorated with murals, a fragment of which depicts Eve in Paradise and pilgrimage scenes to Saint Radegonde. These frescoes, rediscovered in 1937, testify to local devotion and medieval beliefs related to the miracles of the saint.

From 1360, faced with the threats of the Hundred Years' War, the church was transformed into a fortified refuge by order of the bishop of Rodez, lord of the village. A 20-metre west tower was erected above the entrance, flanked by foothills and a steep edge, while the nave was raised from two to three floors to accommodate about twenty rooms accessible by ladders. A well was dug in the first span to ensure the autonomy of the refugees. These adjustments reflect the adaptation of religious buildings to a context of conflict, where churches also served as protection for people and their property.

In the 1380s, a northern chapel dedicated to Saint Hilaire de Poitiers was added, surmounted by a six-storey tower with a spiral staircase, bringing the number of rooms to 29. In the 15th century, a southern chapel (Notre-Dame-de-Pitié) completed the forgery, and a south tower was built, including an independent room for the prior. The defences were modernized with mâchicoulis replaced by schauguettes, and a round road was built in corbellation. In 1477 Deodat Randeynes became the first captain appointed to command the refuge, illustrating the military and social organization of the time.

The bell tower, added in the 16th century, ran the western tower. The following centuries saw episodic uses of the chambers, despite episcopal prohibitions. In the 19th century, major changes were made: the sacristy was built in 1869 with materials recovered from the defenses, and in 1875 the architect F. Mazenq enlarged the sanctuary of a neo-Gothic three-sided bedside, decorated with stained glass windows reminiscent of the miracles of Saint Radegonde. Ranked a historic monument in 1925, the church benefited from restoration campaigns in 1925, 1952-1955, and 2009.

The church also houses relics of Saint Radegonde, arrived in Aveyron after the desecration of his tomb by the Huguenots in 1562. These relics made Sainte-Radegonde a local place of pilgrimage, reinforcing its spiritual importance. The wall paintings of the 13th-XIVth centuries, including that of the Paradise Terrestrial, and the defensive arrangements make this an exceptional testimony of medieval religious and military architecture in Rouergue.

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