Église Saint-Nazaire de Barbadell, Pre-Romanesque church building in Bouleternère, France

Église Saint-Nazaire de Barbadell is a small stone church with a rectangular nave extended by a flat chevet whose axis is slightly offset to the south. Inside, double arches and wall ribs support a barrel vault. The building is topped by a bell-wall and covered with a slate roof; a white bell tower with one arched opening rises above the right gable.

Probably built before the year 1000, the church served the village of Barbadell as its parish church from the 11th to the 13th century. In the 14th century the village declined for reasons that remain unclear, and it disappeared during the 16th century. The church then became an isolated chapel, still remembered in the wills of Bouleternère's inhabitants.

The church served as a place of continuous worship during the 18th century when hermits maintained its religious traditions, keeping it active as many other rural churches fell silent. This unexpected spiritual presence reflects how deeply rooted the building was in local faith and memory.

The church sits in a rural setting and may require some planning to visit, given its remote location after centuries of quiet decline. Comprehensive restoration work carried out since 1997 by a local association has made the building safe and returned much of its medieval appearance.

The church stands on an alluvial fan where the ravin de Saint-Nazaire meets the Boulès, at 200 m altitude. Low walls and old canals around the building record centuries of attempts to hold back the river's floods. The double l in Barbadell is pronounced as a palatal l in Catalan.