Église Saint-Maclou

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 church appears to have been built in the 12th century and altered in the 15th. It underwent further changes in the 18th century (addition of a bell tower). Formerly in the form of a Latin cross, Saint-Maclou received on the north a chapel of several bays, transforming its plan into a vast rectangle with two naves. The western façade is partly masked by a modern porch which shelters a portal with four slightly pointed voussures, each accompanied by a string course. The first arch is filled with lozenges, the second with opposed half-bezants, the third with solid forms and the archivolt with triangles. The capitals of the columns and of the jambs are carved with vegetative motifs prolonged by a band of foliage. A triangular gable surmounts the portal. On its projecting part, the ramp of the right is cut in steps forming a staircase which presumably served campanile openings above, before the construction of the bell tower. The apse, flanked by two projecting buttresses, was pierced with five windows. A string course carved with small squares runs above them. Five steps descend to the interior. Nave and aisle are covered with timber boarding. The north chapel is covered with a Gothic vault whose nave is ornamented with a coat of arms.