Église Notre-Dame-des-Champs de Mostuéjouls

The église Notre-Dame-des-Champs de Mostuéjouls is a church built in the Romanesque style, with solid stone walls and rounded arches that reveal its age. The building features a distinctive comb-shaped bell tower at its peak, small windows with thick glass, and thick stone construction that shows the skill of medieval builders.

Founded originally in 1082, this building was constructed by Benedictine monks from Marseille at the end of the 11th century. Over the centuries it was reinforced, damaged by warfare and flooding, and underwent major repairs in the late 1890s to restore it as a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The name Notre-Dame-des-Champs reflects the rural setting of this church, standing isolated in open countryside. Inside, the decoration centers on devotion to Mary through statues and stained glass windows, often featuring imagery connected to harvests and the land around it.

The building is easy to reach in the small village of Mostuéjouls, located next to an old cemetery. In summer it hosts exhibitions and concerts, and the doors open to visitors during Heritage Days and other special occasions throughout the year.

A Christ sculpture from the 15th century was saved through restoration work by a local association founded in 1988 that has protected this building from decay. This grassroots effort allowed the church to reopen to the public after decades of neglect.