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Heritage classified

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin-de-Mouliets, located in Mouliets-et-Villemartin in Gironde, is a religious building dating back to the early Romanesque period between the 11th and 12th centuries. Mentioned for the first time in texts dated 1190-1200, it is distinguished by a simple structure: a single nave extended by a narrow bedside, composed of a straight span and an apse in the hemicycle. The lower parts of the nave and the abside, as well as the right span of the choir, bear witness to this first phase of Romanesque construction, marked by clean lines and an initial absence of complex vaults.

During the 12th century, the church underwent significant architectural changes. The upper parts of the abside are rebuilt, with a cornice and flat buttresses made of cut stone, allowing the addition of a cul-de-four vault. Simultaneously, the right span of the choir is covered with a cradle in the middle of the corner, reflecting the evolution of vaulting techniques at that time. These transformations illustrate the adaptation of Romanesque buildings to the new liturgical and structural requirements of the Middle Ages.

Disused since the 20th century, the church of Saint Martin-de-Mouliets was listed as a Historic Monument by order of 26 February 2001, thus protecting the entire building (cadastre A 124). Owned by the commune of Mouliets-et-Villemartin, today it preserves the traces of the two major phases of its construction: the initial austerity of the eleventh century and the enrichments of the twelfth, offering a material testimony of Romanesque art in Aquitaine. The accuracy of its location, estimated at 7/10, allows it to be located approximately at the 2 Route des Bouygues, in a rural environment characteristic of the medieval Gironde.

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