Saint-Laurent has lived a sometimes turbulent life. Situated in a strategic region of Aquitaine, a border zone between Limousin, Périgord, Angoumois and Poitou, it was more than once a battleground. First, between its successive owners (first the Viscount of Limoges, then the Viscount of Rochechouar) and their suzerain, the Duke of Aquitaine. Then, between the Duke of Aquitaine and the King of France. Finally, between Papists and Huguenots.
Heritage...
The parish of Saint-Laurent, "Sent Laurenç", one of the oldest in the region, was founded in Merovingian times, but it is not known where the original places of worship were located.
The construction of its stone church, undertaken only after the creation of the community's main village, dates back to the Middle Ages. It was built in stages, between the late 11th and 15th centuries. As tradition dictated, the choir faces east, towards Jerusalem. Its bell tower, probably fortified during a particularly troubled period, subsequently lost some of its height. The south facade, adorned with a sundial, was later extended to include a market hall and sacristy. During the 19th century, the hall disappeared and the sacristy was transferred to the north façade.
In the course of its long history, the church has experienced many moments of great disrepair, but has always recovered and managed to preserve its architecture and many of its treasures of sculpture and liturgical objects.
Also worth seeing, in the church square, is the old tower, probably built to fulfil a dual role: to keep an eye on road traffic on the ancient road that fords the Gorre at its feet, and to control the motte castrale built in the 11th century, a little further downstream, below today's Château de Feuillade, on behalf of a very expansionist neighbouring lord, the Viscount of Rochechouart.
Also worth seeing is the "fournial" adjoining the tower, on the edge of the little rue de Matali. This was the seigneurial bread oven, which was used in turn by the inhabitants of the village. In return for a fee paid to the lord, ... . At the end of the Ancien Régime, the town's notables freed themselves from this obligation by building their own bread ovens. In the 19th century, the fournial, which has since disappeared, became the property of a professional baker.
Take the little rue de Matali, probably the oldest witness to Laurent's history. From the very beginning, it linked the village to the Gorre ford, following the route of a very old long-distance path dating back to Neolithic times. To cross the Gorre, this path had followed the trail of the herds of wild animals that passed from one bank of the river to the other. Since prehistoric times, the importance of this road has been considerable. It links two ancient routes: the "salt route", from the Atlantic to Central Europe, and the "metal route", from Armorica to the Mediterranean.
The Grand'Rue, created at the beginning of the reign of Henri IV, is the first modern street in the town and extends from the eastern entrance to the bridge. The notables' houses that lined it as soon as it was created filled the gap between the two parts of the town: the "town" and the district built near the castle after the Hundred Years' War.
Another of Saint-Laurent-sur-Gorre's heritage treasures is the "Maison Saint -Laurent", probably originally built for the Lords of Saint-Laurent who succeeded the Bermondet dynasty, lords from the late 15th to early 17th centuries. Later, after several owners, the commune of Saint-Laurent acquired it in the mid-19th century and used it as its town hall.
The castle, albeit modest in size, had a guarding and defensive role. After numerous conflicts and the plague, and its dismemberment during the French Revolution, the château underwent so many changes in the 19th century that it's best to visit it from afar, from the "streetcar route".
Although built in the 19th century, the "Grande Maison", whose wealthy owner was Charles Planteau-Mammaran, wanted to build a residence modelled on the "maisons de maître" of yesteryear. With a superb central staircase and exaggerated ceiling heights.
What's more, he had obtained the right to annex the foirail, which had served as his entrance courtyard and raised base for his spectacular residence. The stunned people of St. Laurent immediately dubbed it "La Grande Maison", and the name stuck.
A large wrought-iron gate adorned the entrance to the estate until 1935. At that time, reversals of fortune led the owners to subdivide their land, creating the commune's first housing estate.
Le Moulin banal, in the Ancien Régime, "banal" meant that the mill belonged to the lord, and that the inhabitants of the village were obliged to grind their grain there, and to pay him royalties. As for the miller, they paid him in kind with part of the grain, which, once ground, he sold for his own profit. At the time of the French Revolution, of the eight mills in the parish, two others belonged to the seigneury: the Moulin de l'Âge, also known as the Moulin Neuf since the 17th century, and the Moulin de Limont, on the border with the seigneury of Saint Cyr.
A testimony to the history of a great Laurentian family, the Maison Desoubsdanes is an imposing yet simple bourgeois house, with a superb interior stone staircase worthy of the noble houses of yesteryear, and a surprising peasant balcony-dryer. In the middle of the reign of Louis XIV, the courtyard, surrounded by farm buildings, was enclosed by a large porch closed by a carriage gate and a pedestrian gate. A century later, a private bread oven was added to the estate.
Finally, don't forget to visit the barn with the carved head, which belonged to the Desoubsdanes family and is now a cultural space.
The carved stone head above the wooden lintel of the largest doorway probably indicates that, in the Middle Ages, the community of Saint-Laurent intended the building to provide overnight accommodation for travelers passing through: pilgrims, merchants or vagabonds.
Saint-Laurent-Sur-Gorre Town Hall
3, place de la Mairie
87310 Saint-Laurent-sur-Gorre
Tel.: 05 55 00 00 21
contact@saint-laurent-sur-gorre.fr
https://www.saint-laurent-gorre.fr/
Translated with DeepL.com
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