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Origin and history

Sainte-Colombe Church is a 12th-century Roman Catholic church located in the commune of Sainte-Colombe, Gironde, New Aquitaine. It is built on the substructures of a Gallo-Roman villa reused as a necropolis in the Merovingian era. Its architecture includes a unique nave reinforced with inner arcades, a square bell tower on the eastern span, and a choir composed of a right span and a semicircular apse covered in cul-de-four. The western facade, adorned with carved arches and modillons, is a remarkable example of Romanesque art.

The church gate, richly decorated with saw teeth and diamond tips, was classified as a historic monument in 1908. The rest of the building, including the vaulted nave in the 19th century, was inscribed in 1925. The successive restorations (17th, 18th and 19th centuries) preserved its structure, while adding elements like foothills. An ancient mosaic, discovered under the ground at the entrance, bears witness to the Gallo-Roman past of the site.

The bedside modillons, representing fantastic animals and characters, illustrate Romanesque iconography. The forearm, vaulted with a cross of warheads, houses archaic capitals and supports the bell tower. The church, owned by the commune, remains a major architectural and historical testimony of the region, mixing ancient, merovingian and medieval heritage.

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