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Origin and history

The Priory Saint-Sardos de Laurenque is a former Catholic convent church located in the hamlet of Laurenque, in the commune of Gavaudun, Lot-et-Garonne. Mentioned as early as 1153 in a bubble of Pope Eugene III as dependent on the abbey of Saint-Sacerdos de Sarlat, this Benedictine priory was a major religious place in the region. Its Romanesque church, originally prosperous, was destroyed at the end of the 15th century, probably because of the troubles of the time.

At the end of the 15th or early 16th century, the priory was rebuilt thanks to a gift from Arnaud and Jeanne de Lustrac, local lords, who gave up half the tithe to support the impoverished prior. The architecture of this period, visible in the current ruins, includes a five-sided apse and a bell tower-poach. However, on November 25, 1569, the priory was set on fire by Denis de Saint-Selve, a Protestant, who burned the priest Martin Rigal, the guardian of the place. This act marked the definitive end of the priory.

After 1569, the site never rose. In 1601 the bishop of Agen, Nicolas de Villars, found that the church was "all discovered, without any service", and the ruins were gradually abandoned. In 1616 the title of priory was transferred to the nearby parish church, which then adopted the term Saint Sardos and Saint Anne. Today, only remains remain: the ruins of the prioral church, a fence wall, a square dovecote, and eleven historical columns representing angels.

The site was listed as historic monuments on September 15, 1993, recognizing its heritage importance. The protected elements include the ruins of the church, the fence wall, the dovecot with its bread oven, and the archaeological floor. Historical sources, such as the chronicles of Jean Tarde or the works of Abbé Barrère, document his turbulent past, linked to the religious conflicts of the Renaissance.

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