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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Église Saint-Jacques

Parthenay, Deux-Sèvres, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Eglise Saint-Jacques (cad. AN 89, 142) : inscription par arrêté du 23 octobre 1992
Protection dates
1992/10/23 : inscrit MH
Type
église
Main period of construction
2e moitié 12e siècle, 1ère moitié 15e siècle
Dates
1170
Ownership
propriété de la commune
Address
33 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques
Commune
Parthenay
Département
Deux-Sèvres
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Country
France
Coordinates
46.65308, -0.24869
Mérimée reference
PA00101430

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1637 map "The County of Pictavia. Poictou" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

L'édification ou la reconstruction de l'église se situe aux environs de 1170, autour du pélerinage de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle de Guillaume IV de Parthenay. Dévastée pendant les guerres de Religion, l'édifice fut ensuite restauré. En 1543, les voûtes n'étaient pas terminées. Au début du 19e siècle, l'église est vendue à un particulier et transformée en grange et habitation. Elle fut rachetée par la ville en 1976 pour servir de cadre à diverses manifestations culturelles. L'édifice est de plan rectangulaire, se rétrécissant à hauteur du chevet plat, percé d'une grande baie gothique. La nef est sous charpente. Des piles gothiques et un départ de nervures prismatiques marquent un essai de voûtement. Une voûte du 15e siècle, à huit quartiers et oculus central, précède le sanctuaire à deux travées voûtées d'un berceau brisé. Deux colonnes engagées à chapiteaux romans soutiennent l'arc triomphal.

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

The erection or reconstruction of the church dates to around 1170, around the pilgrimage to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle of Guillaume IV de Parthenay. Devastated during the Wars of Religion, the building was subsequently restored. In 1543, the roof structures were not completed. In the early 19th century, the church was sold to a private individual and transformed into a barn and dwelling. It was repurchased by the town in 1976 to serve as a venue for various cultural events. The building is of rectangular plan, narrowing at the level of the flat chevet, pierced by a large Gothic opening. The nave is under roof structure. Gothic pillars and the beginning of prismatic ribs mark an attempt at vaulting. A 15th-century rib vault with eight sections and central oculus precedes the sanctuary with two bays vaulted with a broken barrel vault. Two engaged columns with Romanesque capitals support the triumphal arch.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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