Église paroissiale Notre-Dame des Escaliers de Marcevol

English translation

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History

A local legend attributes the veneration of the faithful for this church to what it recalls of the memory of the mother of saint Lin, who would have lived in this place, and the miracle of the sack of flour. In 1011, a papal bull mentions, among the possessions of the abbot of Cuxa, the allod of Marcevol. In the 12th century, the regular canons of the Holy Sepulchre received in fief from the bishop of Elne, the church of Sainte-Marie des Degrés (in reference to the steps leading to the atrium). The church may have been built towards the end of the 11th century. The small fortified enclosure defending the entrance of the church, with its small short loopholes, could date from the end of the 12th or 13th century. These walls, applied against the apse and nave, are more recent than the church. This comprises a short nave, a choir bay narrower but higher and a semi-circular apse, separated from the choir by a diaphragm wall. The only entrance is found at the east, after a series of circular steps. The door was surmounted by a bretèche. Five stones embedded in the south wall of the choir allow access to the small bell tower located, laterally, on the south wall of the nave. The facings are of pebbles or flat stones, arranged in a herringbone pattern, with granite corner chains. The upper part of the walls, more recent, is made of squared granite blocks, summarily ashlar. This heightening was decorated with pinnacles at the four angles and at the ridge. The primitive roof has entirely disappeared, replaced by two pitched sides with round tiles. The apse comprises five panels decorated each with three small arches.