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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame-del-Roure, also called Santa Maria de la Roure in Catalan, is a 12th century religious building located in Taillet, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Ranked a historic monument since 2006, it is distinguished by its unique nave Romanesque architecture and its bell tower-wall. Its name comes from a deformation of Santa Maria de la Rovira, attested as early as 1288 (S. Maria de Ruyra) and 1371 (eccl. Sce. Marie de la Ruyra). The site, isolated to the east of the village, dominates a hamlet that took its name, suggesting an ancient local importance.

The chapel is associated with a Marian legend: around 1100, a shepherd would have discovered an icon of the Virgin on top of an oak, where an ox often went. A sanctuary was then built to house this image, although the abbey of Santa Maria de Vallbona, cited as a sponsor, was founded only in 1242. This chronological contradiction does not prevent hermitage from being considered one of its first possessions. The church became a place of pilgrimage, and a piece of oak, known to heal fevers, is still preserved there.

The interior houses a altarpiece protecting 12th century murals, as well as frescoes in the cul-de-four apse. These elements, combined with its turbulent history (past under the tutelage of the lords of Oms in 1578), make it a rare testimony of Catalan Romanesque art. Two holders of the profit are known: Joachim Balderan (1715) and Jean-Laurent d'Aguillon (1768), former Canon of the Cathedral of Perpignan. The building, a communal property since its inscription, remains a symbol of the Occitan religious heritage.

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