Église Saint-Pallais

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

From the 12th to the 17th century, the right of patronage was exercised by a canon of the chapter of Saintes. The building which rose at the beginning of the 12th century, perhaps an earlier building, had transept arms of which only one is preserved on the south. It probably presented a circular apse and a different bell tower. At the base of the current bell tower, on three sides, bundles of columns attest to the Romanesque bell tower. According to a type widespread in Saintonge, it must have been a bell tower with one storey pierced with openings, on a square plan, and decorated with columns at the angles. The most important modifications date from the 15th century, after the Hundred Years War. The north arm of the transept, destroyed, was not rebuilt. The south arm was transformed into a chapel. The choir bears witness to a different conception of the church and of the liturgy at the end of the Middle Ages. It was built in two bays lit by a large opening pierced in the east wall of a flat chevet. Inside, the square of the bell tower preserves decorated Romanesque capitals (vegetative motifs, Romanesque bestiary, sacred themes...).