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Origin and history

The church Saint-Martin de Cadillac, located in the Gironde department in the commune of Cadillac-sur-Garonne, is a Catholic religious building built between the 4th quarter of the 15th century and the 1st quarter of the 17th century. Founded in 1490 by Gaston III de Foix Candale under the name of collegiate Saint-Blaise, it was rebuilt between 1541 and 1544 in a late Gothic style. Its architecture is characterized by a unique nave vaulted with warheads, a funeral chapel next to the choir, and a bell tower open with a masonry arrow, built in 1853 by the departmental architect Pierre-Auguste Labbé.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the collegiate church was flanked by a chapel housing the tombs of the Dukes of Epernon, a local noble family, as well as an underground crypt. This chapel, dated 1606, is separated from the nave by a stone fence and polychrome marbles. The building preserves remarkable elements such as an original structure, terracotta statues of Saints Peter and Paul by the Virebent brothers of Toulouse, and a monumental iron cross erected in 1844. The ensemble, classified as a historical monument in 2002, illustrates the architectural and funeral evolutions of the Renaissance in modern times.

The church of Saint Martin is closely linked to the history of Cadillac, a fortified town whose northern wall it marries. Its status as a collegiate, founded in the 15th century, reflects the religious and political importance of the city under the influence of the lords of Foix-Candale and the Dukes of Épernon. The materials used — cut stone for most of the elements, rubbish for sacristy — and the various covers (mechanical tiles, slates) bear witness to local constructive techniques. The west facade and the bell tower, rebuilt around 1865, mark a late intervention in a neo-Gothic style, typical of 19th-century restorations.

The classification of the building in 2002 protects the entire church, including its interior decorations and immediate surroundings. The presence of the funeral chapel of Epernon, with its tombs and crypt, makes it a rare example of aristocratic mortuary architecture of the post-Renaissance period in Aquitaine. The statues of the renowned Toulouse artisan Virebent brothers highlight the artistic exchanges between the South-West and Languedoc at that time. Today owned by the commune, the church remains a major testimony of the religious and seigneurial heritage of the Gironde.

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