Ancienne église du Temple

English translation

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History

The knights of the order of the Temple had established themselves, in the 12th century, in the Néracais. The favour enjoyed by this order caused donations to flow to the new establishment, which founded several houses all around it. In the course of the 13th century, the Templars settled at Port-Sainte-Marie and built a house and a church there. In 1298, all Templar goods and rights at Port-Sainte-Marie in exchange for the farms of Bonnefond and Lannes. Abandoned after their departure, the church was repaired and restored to worship in the early 17th century, when the parochial service was officially transferred there. Closed during the Terror or disused, the church was restored to worship in 1796, then taken over by the White Penitents after the Revolution. The church constitutes, by its singular plan, an exception to the traditions of the order of the Temple which, in remembrance of the Temple of Jerusalem, preferred elliptical or circular plans. It is composed of two parts: one square, to the west, forming a nave with aisles; the other to the east, rectangular, forming the choir. The bell tower rises at the northwest corner and forms a pronaos by a walled arcade. The double tower, with two storeys, rises above the roof spaces. The windows perhaps formerly offered a particular arrangement preserved on two openings. The mullions were united at one-third of their height by a lintel bearing at the centre, on a small square pillar, the whole forming a T.