Église Saint-Barthélemy

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

Church comprising an oriented polygonal chevet, a nave of four bays flanked by chapels and a porch tower. The building has preserved its specification, dated 1510-1511, and was built by Pierre Saint-Cyr, architect. The church has a bell tower that is square at the base and octagonal at the top, constructed on the north face. In the north-east corner, a spiral staircase allows access to a platform, at the base of the octagonal part and at the top of the bell tower, whose construction was interrupted by the Wars of Religion. The lower part forms a porch covered by a rib vault, resting on carved corbels. This porch shelters a monumental portal whose pillars and pointed arch are decorated with mouldings that interlock at the top. This decoration is completed by an elegant gable, adorned with crockets and cut, in its height, by two moulded bands. Above the mullion, the tympanum is decorated with a niche with carved canopy, but of which the statue has disappeared. On the round columns of the nave are remarked, at the springing of the diagonal arches, bands decorated with sculptures: angels, demons, hybrid animals mixed with an infernal or celestial cycle. Beside the traditional siren are seen heads of men on bodies of griffons or heads of animals on human bodies. Similar sculptures exist on the exterior on the bell tower.