Abbey Sainte-Marie du Désert

Small church, of modest dimensions, perched on the top of an urban hill. The interior has been recently restored and its modern style blends easily with the local Toulouse style. Its location in the centre of the old village makes it a small jewel in the landscape.

Small church, of modest dimensions, perched on the top of an urban hill. The interior has been recently restored and its modern style blends easily with the local Toulouse style. Its location in the centre of the old village makes it a small jewel in the landscape.

The church was built according to a design drawn up in 1551 and consists of a single nave, a pentagonal chevet and side chapels. A difficult topography was undoubtedly the cause of successive collapses (nave in 1646, facade wall in 1771, chevet in 1812). In the 19th century, major restoration work gave it its neo-gothic style, with three phases of intervention: a campaign in 1840 which ended with the vaulting of the building in 1850; a campaign of embellishment around 1865-1870 with the realization of the painted decoration of the choir attributed to Bernard Benezet; a construction campaign with the erection of the bell tower completed by the architect Bréfeil in 1882.