A little history of Sainte-Eulalie church in Bordeaux

An old church

Once upon a time, in the 7th century... there was an old women convent dedicated to saint Eulalie, a young Spanish saint martyred in the 4th century. The founder abbess was Hildemarche. The primitive church probably dates back to that time...

But Saracens came, in the 7th century: a real steamroller which destroyed everything! They never re-raised the convent... but a new church was founded in the beginning of the 9th century.

At that time, king Charlemagne gave it 7 martyrs' relics: saint Clair, saint Justin, saint Girons, Saint Sévère, saint Jean, saint Polycarpe and saint Babyle.

In 1174, archbishop of Bordeaux Guillaume I consecrated the current church: 81 metres long, 21 metres large, it had 3 naves raised in the 14th century.

The current porch dates back to the middle of the 19th century, as well as the bell-tower, destroyed by a lightning in 1612...

Discoverings

We find inscriptions on walls, next to organs: 2 earthquakes shook the church, in 1372.

Sainte-Eulalie also houses 2 treasures: come! This beautiful iron gate made in 1751 by Blaise Chalut: it’s the entrance of the chapel dedicated to our 7 saints martyrs...

We also can see saint Roch's procession staff (16th century), precious relic that we found primitively in a convent in Bordeaux.

A miraculous staff, who knows? Because people used to pray saint Roch in case of illness, especially during plague epidemics...