Église Saint-Hilaire (ancienne chapelle des Cordeliers)

English translation

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History

Founded at Agen in the 13th century, the convent of the Friars Minor had to move a century later, in 1345, to the Saint-Georges quarter, where it remained until the Revolution. The church and its roof structure date from this period (1348). The nave and choir belong to the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. Desecrated around 1796, the church was reopened in 1826. In 1866, a bell tower and campanile were built near the façade following the plan drawn up by the architect Verdier. The church is built in brick and stone. It comprises a nave bordered by side chapels and an apse with seven bays. The exterior was completed, in the 19th century, by a façade in the Louis XV style flanked by the bell tower. The original building presented, in place of a bell tower, a turret which rested on the top of the buttresses, in the south-east angle. An iron cross surmounted it. This old bell tower was demolished. The building is surmounted by a broken barrel vault roof structure which appears to date from the very construction of the church. In section, its general form is that of an equilateral triangle. The rafters bear the load throughout. At regular intervals, a complete tie, with tie beams, maintains the spacing of the walls. The tie beams are chamfered. The king posts are set vertically and decorated with chamfers on their edges outside the parts bearing joints. The whole is completed with curved struts and angle braces.