Église Saint-Léger

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

Of the Romanesque church, which comprised a nave and two side aisles, only the apse terminated by a straight wall, one bay of choir and two small apses vaulted with semi-domes survive. The building was devastated once by the English; the vaults of the nave and side aisles collapsed. Repair work was carried out in the 15th century, and the chapels, the porch of two bays which supports the bell tower and the western gable were built. In the 16th century, work resumed with the raising of four circular pillars with the intention of re-establishing masonry vaults. But during the Wars of Religion, the roofs were burnt. In the 18th century, the naves are finished by covering them with a depressed wooden barrel vault. The vault is divided into coffers by means of applied mouldings. The nave contains 560 coffers, and the side aisles 400, all decorated with naive paintings representing flowers, fantastic animals, cherubs and the coats of arms of local families. In the rectangular Romanesque apse, vaulted with a barrel vault, four small columns survive whose capitals have a very archaic character.