Église Notre-Dame des Vertus

English translation

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History

Church raised in the 12th century on the site of earlier buildings. Excavations revealed that the oldest of them, built in the 1st century, was a temple dedicated to Ceres. In the 4th century, the Christianization of the countryside becoming total, this temple was placed under the title of Notre-Dame. It was destroyed in the 8th century by the Saracens. On its site succeeded in turn two Benedictine chapels. Paulhan was then entrusted in frank freehold, by Charlemagne, to the Benedictines of Saint-Thibéry. Placed on the road to Compostela, this sanctuary proved insufficient to accommodate the pilgrims. In the second half of the 12th century, construction work on a new church was undertaken. They concerned first the nave. The chevet was completed in the 13th century. In the 14th century, the bell tower was raised above the western part of the nave. Of square plan and pierced with pointed-arch openings. In the 18th century, it was topped with a cupola pavilion which collapsed in the 19th century, after a fire. The octagonal lantern dates from 1859. In the 17th century, the church was assigned to the White Penitents who proceeded to the construction of the vast gallery above the last bay, completed in 1742.