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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Goudou, located in Labastide-Murat in the Lot, has its origins in the 12th century, as evidenced by the still visible committed columns. The village, deserted during the Hundred Years War, was repopulated in 1457 under the impetus of the Baron of Castelnau-Bretenoux, leading to the partial reconstruction of the building at the end of the 15th century. The church, from plan to Latin cross, preserves traces of this period, including its side chapels vaulted with warheads and its rectangular choir separated by a triumphal arch.

In the 16th century, Marie d'Arpajon, widow of Jean d'Hébrard, financed the construction of a southern chapel, probably the one described in her will of 1518. The modifications continued in the 19th century: a sacristy was added in 1836, and plans for expansion (western hatchery, northern chapel) were led by anonymous architects. The building, poorly maintained, was restored in the 1940s by Abbé Levet, who worked with Belgian painter Georges-Émile Lebacq and master glassmaker Francis Chigot to create a stained glass window representing La Décolletation de Saint Jean-Baptiste, always visible in the bedside.

Ranked a historic monument in 1993, the church illustrates the architectural and artistic evolution of a rural building, marked by periods of decline (Century Years War) and renaissance (medieval population, modern restorations). Its 20th century stained glass windows, the result of a collaboration between artists and religious, contrast with its late Gothic structure, reflecting a history that is both local and connected to national artistic currents.

Historical sources point to its central role in the community, from collective increases from the 15th century to cultural initiatives of the 20th century. The building, a communal property, remains a testament to the social and religious dynamics of Quercy, between the Middle Ages and the contemporary era.

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