Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Sernin in Brassempouy, located in the Landes, finds its origins in the early twelfth century with a Romanesque construction. The bedside and nave walls, as well as the western façade, date from this period. In the 13th century, a military defence tower was attached to the building, reflecting the defensive needs of the era. This tower, massive and equipped with benches in windows, suggests use as a garrison post in case of alert. The high parts of the bell tower, disoriented to the north, were remodeled at the end of the 15th century with a flamboyant bodyguard and a stone arrow, typical of late Gothic.

In the 15th century, the church was enriched with lateral chapels and a flamboyant Gothic arrow, while a stone vault, decorated with carved keys (including an angel with folded wings, rare example of a pendant key), was added in the 16th century. An engraved date, 1535, on one of the vault keys of the nave attests to this campaign of major works, where the choir and the nave are enhanced in stone. The building also preserves traces of a door of snags near the gallery, recalling medieval social segregation. Two 17th century wooden statues (saint Paul and a bishop), classified in 2001, as well as a white marble altar offered in the 20th century, complete his remarkable furniture.

The church, founded as a Romanesque building, undergoes continuous transformations to adapt to liturgical and defensive needs. The northern chapels, added in two phases (15th and 17th centuries), housed in particular the burial of the Barons of Capdeville, local lords, as evidenced by the traces of a litre on the walls. Ranked a historic monument in 1939, it has major restorations: exterior in the 1990s and interior (wall paintings) in 2006. Its roman bedside, taluté foothills and walled portal recall the successive stages of its architectural evolution, mixing religious, defensive and social functions.

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