Église Saint-Véran, Church building in Saint-Véran, Hautes-Alpes, France

Église Saint-Véran stands in the mountain village of Saint-Véran in the Hautes-Alpes. Rebuilt in the 17th century in a temple form without an apse, it has rough tan and grey stone walls and a low sloped roof. A smooth pale plastered bell tower was added in 1838; it carries a clock face, two open arched belfry openings with a bell, and a pointed roof topped with a cross. The wooden porch rests on two finely carved columns supported by stylophore lions.

The church was destroyed during the Wars of Religion and rebuilt in the 17th century by a Protestant architect, giving it a temple-like plan without apse or bell tower. The bell tower seen today was added in 1838. The building was inscribed as a monument historique on 8 May 1973.

The church takes its name from Saint Véran, patron saint of Cavaillon, who according to local tradition drove a dragon out of the Vaucluse; the beast collapsed exhausted on the village's land, and a bone said to be his is kept inside the church. The carved lions supporting the wooden porch columns recur at Guillestre and Abriès.

The church is located in the center of the village and is easy to find when walking through the narrow stone streets. Visit during daylight hours when natural light streams through the windows, making it easier to see interior details and carved elements clearly.

The two lions carrying the porch columns are stylophores, the same motif found at Guillestre and Abriès; the church also keeps a relic bone of Saint Véran, patron of Cavaillon, who according to tradition drove a dragon out of the Vaucluse until it collapsed on the village's land.