Église Saint-Aignan

English translation

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History

After the death of Aignan, bishop of Orléans, an abbey was founded at the location of his tomb, to the east of the fortifications. It is mentioned by Gregory of Tours. The church, perhaps destroyed in 989, was rebuilt at the initiative of Robert the Pious, second Capetian king, born in Orléans and who had a particular devotion to Saint-Aignan. The dedication ceremony took place on 14 June 1029 (according to Helgaud). The monument, always built outside the city fortifications, was one of the most important pilgrimage centres of the time, linked to the prestige of royal power. It was destroyed in 1359 in anticipation of a possible siege of the city. The preserved crypt indicates that the choir had an ambulatory and five radiating chapels. The transept (48 X 17 m overall) was surmounted, at least at the back of the transepts if not on the aisles, by a gallery, and each arm was provided with an oriented apse. The location of the south transept is today occupied by the substructures of 15th-century buildings (chapter house and part of the sacristy). The nave was undoubtedly divided into three aisles. Two long corridors, situated in the axis of the lateral passages of the ambulatory, gave access to the crypt raised with respect to the upper church. This crypt, of irregular shape, today comprises a long transverse confession (or martyrium, 8 X 2 m) to the west, built on a plinth and barrel vaulted, which contained the bodies of seven saints, including that of Saint-Aignan, visible through four fenestellae pierced in the eastern wall; a semicircular apse with an ambulatory linked to the access corridors and possessing five radiating chapels to the east; a central room situated between the confession and the apse which has been remodelled and partially filled in: besides the creation of engaged piers in the perimeter of the room, the two existing rows of columns were replaced (to the east) or enclosed in cruciform masonry piers (to the west), in order to support new rib vaults or their arches, and this from the medieval period, no doubt only a few years after the completion and before the consecration of the church in 1029 (according to J. Ottaway, E. Vergnolle). The capitals are among the oldest Romanesque sculptures, including one of the earliest known human figurations (Daniel in the lions' den?). Their style can be compared with that of the capitals of the porch tower of Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire (E. Vergnolle). The greater part of the ambulatory and four of the radiating chapels were subsequently filled in, perhaps in the 14th century (Dr Lesueur), to support the new chevet. Indeed, the church, destroyed in 1358, was rebuilt under Charles V (completed after 1380) and destroyed again in 1428. The construction of the present church began in 1439, by order of Charles VII. The work was completed by his son Louis XI (1466) and included in the city fortifications completed in 1475. Charles VIII and Louis XII had three northern chapels of the choir, a chapter house, a sacristy and a treasury room to the south added. The church was consecrated on 28 August 1509. The roofs and vaults of the nave were further devastated during the Wars of Religion (11 December 1567). Half of the church thus remained in ruin, the gaping hole of the nave closed by a simple boundary wall. In 1792, the architect Benoît Lebrun bought the church and its ruins to demolish them: in 1804, the western bell tower and the masonry of the four bays of the nave were demolished and their materials sold. In their place, he had a house built, which became a boarding school of the Ursulines, then a Major Seminary, and finally offices of the bishopric (diocesan house Saint-Aignan). The remaining part of the collegiate church was returned to worship. Since that time, the building has retained only its polygonal chevet with five sides surrounded by an ambulatory with five radiating chapels, four bays of choir and the transept, vaulted to a height of approximately 22 metres. The main entrance is via the north transept. The portal of the south arm has lost its flamboyant decoration. This transept was extended by a chapel of two bays which served as a church for the parish of Crucifix-Saint-Aignan. Two recently consolidated buttresses contain the thrusts of the crossing and transfer the loads to the remains of the low arcades maintained in place. A model, preserved in the ambulatory, restores the state of Saint-Aignan before these destructions (erroneously omitting a fourth bay in the nave according to Dr Lesueur). The crypt was summarily excavated in 1953-1956, allowing the piers to be tested and the capitals and columns to be uncovered. Also discovered on this occasion were the outer wall of the north transept of Robert the Pious's church, as well as the south apse and its buttress.