Église Notre-Dame de Porporières

The Notre-Dame de Porporières church in Mérindol-les-Oliviers is a monument located in Mérindol-les-Oliviers, a commune in the Drôme department.

Notre-Dame de Porporières was listed as a Historic Monument on December 5, 2000. It was once a Benedictine priory. Built on a rocky spur, it is said to have belonged to the Saint-Philibert de Tournus abbey, according to records dating from 1120 and 1170. It was damaged in the 14th century by a band of truckers, and again during the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution. It was then abandoned until 1867, when the village priest decided to save it by transferring worship there. The church comprises a nave, a low transept, a bell tower to the north-west, a sacristy to the south-west and a flat chevet to the east. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1875. Its virtually blind facades evoke the harshness of the religious life of yesteryear. A canonical sundial, the only one of its kind in the region, marks the hours of prayer during liturgical services.