Église Saint-André

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

In 1226, the Dauphin Guigues VI André founds a body of canons in his service and engages the construction of the collegiate church in 1228. The building is built in brick for greater speed and economy. The project certainly ends around 1298 with the construction of the bell tower. The church then becomes the private chapel and dynastic necropolis of the Dauphins. After the formation of the Parliament of the Dauphiné, the collegiate church also becomes the church of the Parliament. It houses the burials of the councillors of the parliament, governors of the province and notable Grenoblois. In the 14th and 15th centuries, chapels are attached to the north façade. In 1562, the troops of the Baron des Adrets plunder the collegiate church and destroy the sculptured decoration as well as the tombs of the dauphins. The interior of the church is rearranged in the 17th and 18th centuries. The chapter is suppressed in 1790. The church is returned to worship in 1802. The cloister to the south of the collegiate church is demolished around 1860. An order for stained glass is placed at the end of the 19th century with master glazier Lucien Bégule. The building combines characteristics of late Romanesque and early Gothic. On a Latin cross plan, the original church comprised a single nave, a projecting transept supporting the bell tower and a choir with a flat chevet. The north portal was moved and framed with flamboyant Gothic decoration in the 15th century, and the façade extended to the north-west. The lintel, voussures and jambs of the old portal are covered with polychrome painted decoration dating from the 14th century. The south portal is the former access to the demolished cloister. The tympanum of this portal presents a bas-relief sculpture representing the angels of the Sea and Earth censing a cross. The western portal bears a tympanum decorated with Saint John the Baptist accompanied by the angel with the cross. The archaic character of the sculpture raises the question of the provenance of the bas-relief which could be a reuse from the old church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste demolished in 1562. A spiral staircase with hollow core partitioned in a corner of the chapel Notre-Dame-de-la-Consolation gives access to rooms and galleries above the chapels and the porch. The decoration, both interior and exterior, is in Gothic style. The sacristy was built in the 13th century to house the archives of the Dauphins and the regalia. The tufa bell tower rests on the south arm of the transept. The tower houses a vaulted room with a rib vault.