PARISH CHURCH OF SAINTE COLOMBE AND SAINT-SYLVESTRE OF COLOMBIERS

The Romanesque church of Saint-Sylvestre in Colombiers, formerly known as Sainte-Colombe “villa Colombario” is said to have given the village its name.
The church has gone through three periods without ever being abandoned as a place of worship, although it was remodeled several times:
• paleochristian (between 200 and 500 years AD / Visigothic),
• Romanesque (from the 10th to the 12th century)
• Modern

A first place of worship was built on a hillock near the protohistoric path which preceded the Domitian road. Its precise date of establishment is unknown, probably in the paleo-Christian era.
Of reduced surface area, it occupied the current choir. The remains are the two hooked capitals and the Visigothic altar, found further away, classified as a Historic Monument.
Excavations of the ancient cemetery have uncovered several slate tombs and sarcophagi, the best preserved of which, known as acroteriums, is on display at the back of the church.

At the end of the 10th century, it was remodeled with the addition of an apse to the east. The small and regular stone structure is remarkable and deserves to be seen from the garden at the back of the church and accessible from rue du Presbytère.

A very high bell tower, topped with a spire of more than three meters, was added in 1668. It was partially destroyed by lightning in 1855.
At the end of the 19th century, the church was enlarged to obtain its current appearance.

The church can be visited freely every day from 9 a.m. to 17 p.m.