Melle - Saint-Savinien

Melle was known already during Roman times, when silver and lead were mined here. The silver mines were exploited over hundreds of years, got forgotten and "rediscovered" in the 19th century. Today they are a tourist attraction. Melle was wealthy and the pilgrims, walking the Via Turonensis, passed through Melle on their way to Santiago, what brought even more money into town.

Churches were erected during the heydays of the pilgrimage. Three (!) Romanesque churches can still be found here. Melle must have been a large building site within the 12th century, with hundreds of construction worker and dozends of carvers.

Saint-Savinien is the oldest of the three Romanesque churches in Melle. It is as well the most austere church and the only one erected within the city walls in two stages in the 11th and the 12th century.

After the French Revolution, the building was used as a prison - upto 1926. Throughoutfully renovated in the 1960s, it serves for cultural events like concerts and exhibitions nowadays.

The western facade has some interesting, very rough, archaic carvings, what is a surprise. Master carvers worked on many places not far away (eg Aulnay), later even in Melle. .

The tympanum, seen here is one of these rather "simple" works. Christ in a round medaillon, flanked by two lions.