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A little history of Sainte-Eulalie church in Bordeaux

The façade | Olivier432 / CC-BY-SA
Epidemic Relic Parish church Charlemagne 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...

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!