CHURCH OF SAINT GERVAIS AND SAINT PROTAIS

The village of Fraissinet-de-Fourques lies below the Causse Méjean plateau, nestled along a stream flowing from the hamlet of Les Clauzels. Remaining loyal to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church since the Protestant Reformation, the parish is a kind of isolated Catholic enclave in the heart of the Cévennes mountains, a region largely devoted to the Huguenot cause. This led to repeated attacks, and its church was desecrated and partially destroyed during the religious conflicts of the 16th and 18th centuries. Despite this, successive reconstructions and alterations have preserved the Romanesque character of the building. Mentioned as early as the 12th century, it features a three-bay nave opening onto the chancel, whose apse is vaulted in a semi-dome. The side chapels date from the 17th century. The exterior walls of the nave retain a remarkable original decoration of Lombard arcades. The massive bell tower is covered with a curious truncated roof.