Église Saint-Pardoux

In the Middle Ages, Blanzat had two churches and a village fort. Today only Église Saint-Pardoux remains, built in the 18th century.

In medieval times, two churches were sited in Blanzat: Saint-Pardoux which belonged to the dependences of Saint-Alyre in 1165, and Saint-Vincent, which was mentioned as far back as 1250. The Église Saint-Pardoux abutted the former château, now destroyed, but whose “rue du château” evoked the memory of it. The church was inside the village fort with the cemetery and buildings that could have been the former priory or manor house. Visible on the land register of 1831, this fortified district was characterised by a quadrangular design flanked by two towers, only one of which exists today rue de la République.

In 1755, the inhabitants decided to build a new church but the project was completed only in 1763. The church was then extended in the 19th century by adding side chapels (1860). In 1889, Jules Painchaux, architect of the Église des Baigneurs (Sacré-Cœur) in Royat, proposed a project for a façade and a neo-Roman bell tower that was passed over in favour of that of Barthélémy Sauzet in 1900. The church choir was north facing and adjoined the western side of the presbytery built in 1867. The current bell tower is from 1902.

The church retains a 19th century copy of a painting by Correggio (circa 1489-1534): The Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Mary Magdalene. The painting was given to the church by Benoit-Edmond Pyrent de la Prade (born in Clermont on May 27, 1820, died in 1901) Baron of the Second Empire and politician in the department, who owned Château de la Prade in Cébazat, the town of which he became mayor from 1879 to 1882. He was active in the Diocese committee and chairman of charity organisations, and also donated a painting showing the Lamentation of Christ to the church.