Église Notre-Dame de Mauras

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Lost at the far end of the Gélise valley, the small church of Mauras is a 14th-century brick edifice consisting of a single nave with two bays lit by two lancets pierced in the southern wall and a polygonal chevet. In the 15th and 16th centuries a substantial bell tower forming a porch at ground level which could never have exceeded the height of the nave was adjoined to the west and vaults were constructed, of which only those of the choir remain, a radiating rib vault with eight quarters, resting on graceful sculpted corbels. The Renaissance vaults of the nave disappeared rapidly, it seems, since in 1738 restoration of the boarding that had replaced them was already being carried out. In 1744 the parish, which until then had depended on Maignan in the Gers, was attached to Bouau which had just been erected as a rectory and mother church. The two edifices shared a common history for a time: noted to be in a state of nearly complete disrepair around 1876, they were simultaneously restored in 1881 thanks to the generosity of Madame Coralie Laudet; at Mauras a wooden vault was established over the nave, comparable to that which still covers the first bay of the church of Bouau. The roof which had been completely remade in 1819 has long since collapsed, bringing about the disappearance of the 19th-century covering. Only the vault of the choir therefore remains, but in very poor condition.