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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame-d-Aix, also known as Notre-Dame-des-Eaux, is a 12th-century Romanesque church located in Balaruc-les-Bains, Herault. His name appeared as early as 1082 in the form of Ecclesia Sancti Martini de Casello q. vocatur Ballaruc, then in 1187 in a bubble of Pope Urban III. Originally possessed of the chapter of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cathedral of Maguelone, it illustrates medieval religious influence in the region.

The Romanesque construction, dated from the end of the 12th century, is distinguished by its polygonal bedside made of local shell limestone, assembled in opus monspelliensis — an alternant stone placed flat and on field. This bedside, divided into two registers by a cordon of stone and pierced by a curved door, bears witness to the architectural know-how of the time.

Sold to private individuals in 1950, the church lost its religious vocation to successively become a cinema, hardware store and flower store. It was only in 1989 that the municipality purchased it for preservation after it had been included in the inventory of historical monuments. Its history reflects the social and urban changes of the twentieth century, between desecralization and patrimonialization.

Sources also mention a potential foundation prior to the 11th century, although the current Romanesque remains are mostly dated to the end of the 12th century. The building, now protected, consists of a nave and an apse, characteristic of the medieval rural churches of Languedoc.

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