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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of St.Martin of Miribel, located in the cemetery of the same name in Miribel (Ain), is mentioned as early as 1250 under the name Ecclesia sancti Martini in a stiletto of the diocese of Lyon. Although its Gothic choir dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries, its main building dates back to the 14th century. The southern chapel, later, dates from the 15th and 16th centuries. The building, dedicated to Martin de Tours, ceased to be a place of worship in 1919, replaced by the nearby Saint-Roman church. Today, only the cross of the transept remains, part of the original bell tower, the apse to the east and a side chapel to the south.

The church's altarpiece, originally an external bas-relief near the west gate (now interior high-relief on the bedside wall), has been classified as a historical monument since 1928. Representing Christ surrounded by the twelve apostles, Mary and Saint Mary Magdalene, he was damaged during the French Revolution. Inside, the church houses columns decorated with grotesques (three human faces and a ram's head), a bentier from the ancient church of Saint Georges, as well as wooden statues from the 17th and 18th centuries (Saint Anne, Saint Vincent, Saint Martin).

The church was damaged in 1938 and 1939, after it was closed to worship. Its surrounding cemetery, one of the three in Miribel, bears witness to its historic anchoring in the Saint Martin district. The monument thus illustrates the architectural and religious evolutions of the region, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.

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