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Origin and history

The Saint-Gayrand church of Grateloup-Saint-Gayrand, mentioned in the 12th century under various names (Saint Joh de Saint Gaira, Sancto Guerano), was probably destroyed during the Hundred Years War. A reconstruction took place at the end of the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th century, with a bell tower described in 1597 as a "very new square tower". The building, looted in 1572 during the Wars of Religion, fell into disuse in the 17th century due to the local Protestant predominance (5 Catholics for 350 Protestants in 1680).

In the 18th century, partial restorations took place, such as the addition of a tabernacle and a pulpit in 1711, or the blessing of a bell in 1750, now gone. The church, forbidden to worship in 1895 for old age, lost its roof in 1923. Consolidations were made in 1988, and the monument was inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1996. Its plan, its collapsed vaults and its carved caps (Vierge à l'Enfant, dragon) bear witness to its medieval and Renaissance past.

Architecturally, the church combines a rectangular nave, a striped bedside illuminated by flamboyant windows, and a Romanesque bell tower-wall. The materials (tuff, limestone) and lateral chapels reflect the successive enlargements. The dedicated cemetery, now disused, and the vaulted sacristy complete the whole. Its history reflects the religious and political upheavals of the region, from the Hundred Years War to the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants.

The decline of the church in the 17th century is explained by the disaffection of the parish, mostly Huguenote. In the 19th century, repair estimates (1829) were not sufficient to save the building, closed in 1895. The disappearance of his bell "Dominic" in 1964, sold for a Polish mining chapel, adds a symbolic dimension to his abandonment. Today, the local association is trying to find this heritage element, while the consolidated walls are waiting for a complete restoration.

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