Autun (Saône-et-Loire) and the temple of Porte Saint-André

The city was fortified by the Romans during the 1st century A.D., surrounded by walls comprising 62 towers and 4 monumental gates. The Porte Saint-André, built by the Romans, was turned into a church during the Middle-Ages.

As early as 1541 Autun had its Protestant martyrs. The first Temple was built in 1559. The city was ransacked by Coligny in 1570, but Catholicism was revived between 1588 and 1612. The Protestants were banished in 1683. In 1793 the Porte Saint-André was sold as a house and later used as a municipal storage depot.

Until 1905 there was no place for Protestant worship in Autun. They were then lent a squalid, damp premises.

It was only in 1921 that the headmistress of the school in Autun acquired the whole Porte Saint-André, and sold it back to the Reformed Church to become the present Temple.