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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais de Faleyras, located in Gironde, is a religious building whose origins date back to the 12th century. From this Romanesque period, there is today only a south walled gate, decorated with typical motifs (skin-shaped youssures, rosace archvolts or circled star), as well as a capital decorated with tangent circles centered by a cross. This portal, integrated into the southern wall of the nave, bears witness to primitive Romanesque architecture, although most of the structure was then profoundly transformed.

In the 16th century, the church underwent a major reconstruction led by master mason Martial Roux, as evidenced by the inscriptions dated 1544 in the choir. The work includes the addition of a narrow north side vaulted with dogive crosses, the replacement of the Romanesque abside with a cut-sided bedside, and the integration of Gothic bays on the south flank. The building was also fortified during the religious wars, reflecting the tensions of the time. A sacristy was added to the north of the apse at the end of the 16th century.

The transformations continued in the following centuries: the western facade collapsed in 1735 and was rebuilt, while in the 19th century (circa 1871), the upper part of the church was demolished and rebuilt, including the current vaults of the nave, choir and collateral. The painted decoration of the eighteenth century (heads of angels, garlands) remains above the vaults. The church, founded according to tradition by Saint Gérard, Abbé de la Sauve, has been classified as a historic monument since 2001, after a first partial protection in 1925.

The site preserves traces of three canonial dials on the south wall, vestige of medieval liturgical practices. The bell tower and western gate, rebuilt in the 18th century, complete the current aspect of the building. The central location of the church, on the town hall square, highlights its historic role in the community life of Faleyras, at the intersection of departmental roads D122 and D140.

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