The parish church of Saint-Seurin has the distinction of having a bell tower with five sides. It contains a seventeenth-century painting, the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist, which has been classified as a historic monument by title since 1908. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Seurin-de-Cursac#Lieux_et_monuments.
The Saint Seurin church was built in the 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th centuries, and completed in 1882.
The parish dates back to the early days of Christianity, Saint Seurin, its patron saint, having been bishop of Bordeaux.
The Romanesque buttresses of the bell tower and, inside the building, a checkerboard abacus and a doubleau resting on double columns, make it possible to date the initial church from the 12th or 13th century. This one is oriented differently: the portal is to the west, the chevet to the east and to the south of the facade is the bell tower, extended by a buttress in alignment. This plan was preserved until the Renaissance, when a Gothic-style collateral was built to the south of the nave.
Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the church was enlarged with a sacristy to the east and a porch to the west, in front of the entrance. In 1882, a subscription was launched to finance considerable work. The side aisle, the wall of the nave, the porch, the sacristy and the flat apse are demolished. Two side aisles are attached to the nave and the whole is vaulted in plaster and briquettes. The church is reoriented, the choir passes to the west and the new sacristy to the northwest.
The church of Saint Seurin houses a canvas painted in tempera dating from the middle of the 17th century, which is the presentation to Herodias of the severed head of St John the Baptist on a platter by Salomé.
According to tradition, John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus because he is the son of Saint Elisabeth (Mary's cousin) retires to the desert and leads a life of mortification. He converts many pagans who come to listen to him, and he gives them, as a sign of penance, baptism in the Jordan. John is imprisoned in Machoronte by King Herod whom he blames for his bad behavior. Following a meal at the royal court, after having danced, Salomé, on the advice of her mother, asks the king for John's head.
An altar in painted wood and gilding, dating from the 18th century, enriches the side chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It is decorated at the corners with cherubs, and in the center with a medallion representing Saint John the Baptist seated.
After the major overhaul that the Saint Seurin church underwent in the 19th century, it was enriched with a wrought iron pulpit, an exceptional work by the locksmith of the town.
According to "The heritage of the municipalities of the Gironde" - Flohic editions
Translated by Google •
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