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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame de Surgères, built in the 11th and 12th centuries in Saintongeese Romanesque style, is an architectural gem located in the feudal enclosure of the city. Its imposing 23-metre facade, decorated with carved modillons (zodiac, atlantes, fantastic animals) and metopes, reflects a rich artistic inspiration. Horizontal lines dominate, accentuated by blind gates and cornices, while the foothills in bundles of columns add to its monumentality. The restoration of the 19th century preserved this exuberant decor, including yousures with geometric motifs and a frieze of 116 characters intertwined with rinceaux.

The Hundred Years' War caused the destruction of the original bell tower and nave, partially rebuilt in the 15th to 16th centuries. In 1899, lightning damaged the bell tower again, rebuilt higher than originally. Inside, three gothic naves replace the six original Romanesque spans, while the cross of the transept, with a dome on trunks, houses remarkable capitals: archangels, lions, and symbolic scenes (Ciel/Enfer). The crypt, vaulted with low doubles, preserves 16th-century paintings restored in 2003, evoking the Last Judgment.

Ranked in 1862, the church combines Romanesque elements (abside, modillons) and Gothic additions (chapels of the transept, retable Louis XIII). Its modern furniture (altar, Spanish Baroque organ of 1982) contrasts with medieval remains. The seigneurial vault, violated during the Revolution, once housed the burials of the lords of Surgères. The facade, often compared to a "sculpted frontispiece", and the octagonal bell tower with narrow bays make it a unique example of Saintonge's novel, marked by historical changes.

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