The Bordeaux church turned into a garage and other new uses of churches in Europe

I watch with interest as my French colleagues argue over a church in Bordeaux that has been turned into a garage. The arguments touch on the sacredness of religious buildings, on the preservation of heritage and memory, and on respect for the labour of architects and artists. In short, it is hard to disagree with the stated position that churches and other historical monuments ought to be preserved.

But. First, I wanted to look at the history of the building. Wikipedia, for instance, says nothing to suggest that it is listed as a historical monument or possesses any special artistic value. It is dated to the fifteenth century, an earlier structure on the site belonged to the twelfth, but the old building was built over by a new one in the eighteenth century, with a thoroughly undistinguished façade that simply concealed the old and interesting architecture. True, several local historians insist that the church is in many respects unique: the only one in Bordeaux with such a plan, with the longest nave in the city at 36 metres, and with Guillaume de Bordeaux regarded as its founder.

Second, I have a question in return: against whom is the indignation directed in this case? Against the local administration, which permitted such a “conversion”? Against the Church itself, which left its temple to fall into dereliction? Or perhaps against the community of believers, who allowed it in the first place? As for me, a garage is better than demolition, and in recent years we have seen not one or two demolished churches in France.

I see no particular symbolism in this situation. And of course I do not consider a comparison with the destruction of churches in Afghanistan and Syria appropriate.

All the more so since this story is already 150 years old, and it is rather late to lament now. The building was sold to a private individual as far back as 1880. Before that it had not served any church function for almost a hundred years, ever since the king confiscated the property of the Jesuits, to whom the monastery and the charitable institutions on this site had belonged. After that there was a theatre here, and a concert hall. Neither then nor since has it been included in any of the existing lists of monuments. The structure slowly fell into decay, grew dilapidated and lost its ecclesiastical appearance. In 2001 part of the masonry collapsed here, burying a cash-in-transit van.

I also think that many townspeople would remark that the city does not have enough parking, and what does the administration reply? We have an abandoned church, so shall we let the owner lay out a car park there? Or should it have been pulled down and a multi-storey garage built on the spot, so that not even the walls of the ancient structure would remain?

Of course, given our Soviet past, we have an altogether different perception of church heritage, given the tragic fates of truly unique churches and monasteries. But we too remember the time when churches held warehouses, barracks, power stations, stables and whatever you like. In time some of these buildings regained the status of churches and reopened for worshippers, some were destroyed, and some exist in other forms.

In this respect Europe has much in common with us. The garage is not an isolated case of a second life for European churches. In Prague I saw a pub in a church, in Holland a bakery, in Nantes a hotel. In England churches house nightclubs, bars and grocery shops. And has no one really heard of hostels and private apartments in old churches? There are even mosques built in the buildings of former churches.

It seems to me the answer is that, despite our indignation, our incomprehension and our rejection, the world develops according to its own canon. Something can be changed if it troubles you: set up a foundation or a fundraising campaign to buy back church property that is put up for sale as superfluous or on grounds of economic expediency, and, having bought the church buildings, treat them with whatever reverence you consider due.

After all, if every structure ever built on earth had always stayed in its place and always kept its original purpose, among how many Roman lavatories, silage stores, army barracks, pagan temples and atavisms of past epochs would we be living now?