Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Saint-André de Fons, located in the Lot en Occitanie department, finds its first written mention in 1146. Its semicircular apse, covered in cul-de-four and adorned with carved capitals (foliage, grimacing heads), dates back to the late twelfth century. The nave, built in the middle of the 13th century, was originally designed with a missing stand, visible today by traces in the western span. Two side chapels, added at the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century, frame the nave, while a chapel dedicated to Saint Roch, built around 1452, marks the southern extension of the building.

The church's defensive transformations, including murderous, sink and latrines, seem to be linked to the wars of Religion (late 16th century). These adjustments reflect its strategic role, possibly inherited from a fort origin to which an oratory would have been associated. The original well, now integrated into the chapel Saint-Roch, bears witness to this dual vocation. The building, inscribed in the historic monuments in 1972, also illustrates the liturgical evolution: a unique nave dogives vault, bell tower over the first span, and irregular plan resulting from successive changes.

Archaeological and historical sources (Bru, 2012) point to the iconographic richness of the capitals of the The cutting stone dominates the construction, with the exception of modern elevations. The church, a communal property, preserves several objects referenced in the Palissy base, strengthening its heritage interest. Its apse-nef disaxement and asymmetric chapels offer a characteristic example of medieval religious architecture in Quercy, marked by contextual adaptations (conflicts, parish worship).

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