Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

The church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is built at the top of a promontory overlooking the famous resurgences, the birthplace of the Touvre. This former chapel of the now defunct château de Touvre was later attached to the bishopric of Angoulême. The Latin cross plan that was adopted in its original architectural design has now been amputated from the north arm of the transept. The nave is divided into three bays, and is extended by a flat chevet. The oldest parts are in the nave and the southern arm of the transept, which date from the early 12th century. The choir is later. The façade is supported by two glacis buttresses. They frame a two-vaulted portal that is narrower than the arcades on either side of the central portal. Only the upper arches are decorated, as well as the capitals of the columns placed at the end of the arches. On the first floor, a narrow window is placed under a large round arch supported by columns. The defensive role of this church is attested to by the presence of a bretèche at the top of the facade and recalls the protective role of churches in times of unrest, particularly during the Hundred Years' War. Listed in the supplementary inventory of historic monuments in 2018.