Église Sainte-Marie

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The construction of the building dates to the beginning of the Romanesque period. Its plan was modified by successive enlargements. Originally, it seems to have been reduced to a rectangular nave, vaulted with a barrel vault, extended to the east by a choir with a square chevet. In front of the nave rose the bell tower. At a time close to the original construction, a second apse of the same arrangement as the first is added on the south side, serving as a sacristy, and preceded by a bay of the aisle. The most important transformation seems to have been made in the 17th century: the nave was then extended to the west by a new bay preceded by a vast closed porch. This extension led to the modification of the lower part of the bell tower which separated the new construction from the old. The transverse walls were opened by two arcs which bear the weight of the tower. This opening caused the disappearance of an interesting arrangement difficult to reconstitute: above the floor which covers the lower part of the bell tower, three small vaults rest on longitudinal arcs. The jambs of these arcs may have descended to the ground or stopped on a wall bearing the floor of a gallery whose underside would have formed the porch of the church. The bell tower presents an upper storey pierced with paired openings which must originally have been covered by a covering of slabs, destroyed by the construction of a crenellated storey.