Église Saint-Romain de Caldegas

English translation

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History

Church mentioned in the 10th century but whose present building dates back to the 11th century. Romanesque edifice with a single nave, in the form of a Latin cross terminated by a hemicycle apse. The whole is covered with barrel vaults of round arch. The side walls and pilasters are very noticeably tilted on the interior face but perfectly vertical on the exterior. They were doubtless voluntarily constructed in this unusual form. Flat niches forming chapels were hollowed out, around 1720, in the lateral walls of the nave. On the exterior, the apse and side walls are ornamented with blind arcading. The portal, pierced in the south lateral façade, is sheltered by a timber porch. The bell-gable crowns the west gable. It is pierced by three arcades of which only the two lower ones shelter bells. While the church is entirely built of small granite rubble stone roughly squared, the greater part of the bell tower is built of dressed stone of medium size. This difference presumably indicates that the bell tower was built at a later date than the rest of the building. Around 1936, the slate roof, which rested directly on the vaults, was rebuilt by raising the side walls and constructing a roof structure with trusses. In 1950, fragments of mural painting executed in distemper were discovered beneath the render of the cul de four. These paintings would date back to the 13th century.