Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: vines

Once "Saint Robert" was the center of a thriving priory, dependent on the important Bendictian abbey "La Chaise-Dieu" in the Auvergne (250kms east). The priory got established here around 1080, the erection of the large pilgrim-church started soon after. The church is dedicated to Saint Robert, aka Robert de Turlande. He had founded La Chaise Dieu in 1053, and got canonized already in 1070. This church got ruined during the Hundred Years´ War - and what can be still seen is transept, crossing tower, choir ambulatory. Where the large nave was, the parking lot stretches now. The ruins of the nave finally got demolished around. After the French Revolution the church was used for the fabrication and storage of weapons and ammunition. It got restored within the 19th century. The village of Saint-Robert surrounding the church is one of the nicest in France - a "plus beaux villages de France". All churches, designed and built for the pilgrims, have a similar design with choir/apse and ambulatory. Saint-Robert is sometimes compared with Saint-Pierre in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne (70kms southeast). I do see strong parallels to churches in the Auvergne and even Burgundy. The monks from "La Chaise-Dieu" probably sent experienced architects and masons to the priory. Two men behind vines. Maybe they will be entangled by tendrils soon. Very similar carvings are common in Poitou-Charente and Burgundy.

Maillezais, a small town with a population of less than 1000, is known for it´s old monastery, founded in the very swampy "Marais Poitevin" in 989. It developed well, when the land around got reclaimed. Later even was a bishop´s see was here. Only some ruins are left of the former Gothic cathedral, as it was burned down by Huguenots during the Wars of Religion and sold as a quarry to local entrepreneurs after the French Revolution. Saint Nicolas, the parish church had a better fate, though vandalized and severely damaged during the Wars of Religion as well, it did not get ruined like the cathedral. The western facade is built in the "style saintonge" with the flanking blind arches. There are nice capitals at the facade. A weathered mermaid with two flippers and four long braids under a frieze of partridges. The seashore was very near to Maillezais within the 12th century. So the carvers will have had first hand experiences with mermaids.

Maillezais, a small town with a population of less than 1000, is known for it´s old monastery, founded in the very swampy "Marais Poitevin" in 989. It developed well, when the land around got reclaimed. Later even was a bishop´s see was here. Only some ruins are left of the former Gothic cathedral, as it was burned down by Huguenots during the Wars of Religion and sold as a quarry to local entrepreneurs after the French Revolution. Saint Nicolas, the parish church had a better fate, though vandalized and severely damaged during the Wars of Religion as well, it did not get ruined like the cathedral. The western facade is built in the "style saintonge" with the flanking blind arches. There are nice capitals at the facade. This one depicts a dangerous encounter in the thick forest, the pilgrim has to pass through on his "chemin" to Santiago. In the twilight, entangled by vines all of a sudden there was a centaur. There is a straight object starting between the centaurs legs - and ending (in a snake´s head?) in the pilgrim´s chest. It is not the common walking stick, used by medieval pilgrims.. Anyway, the bearded pilgrim starts to run..

Maillezais, a small town with a population of less than 1000, is known for it´s old monastery, founded in the very swampy "Marais Poitevin" in 989. It developed well, when the land around got reclaimed. Later even was a bishop´s see was here. Only some ruins are left of the former Gothic cathedral, as it was burned down by Huguenots during the Wars of Religion and sold as a quarry to local entrepreneurs after the French Revolution. Saint Nicolas, the parish church had a better fate, though vandalized and severely damaged during the Wars of Religion as well, it did not get ruined like the cathedral. The western facade is built in the "style saintonge" with the flanking blind arches. Here are the highly intricate carvings of the archivolt round the central portal. The horizontal side is populated with dwarf like humans, who hold giant birds that "live" on the vertical side. Maybe the dwarfs fight the birds. The birds had vines in the beaks, but most of the fragile branches are broken off.

"Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" is a church outside of Aulnay, in the center of an old graveyard. The setting has not changed for centuries. For the pilgrims of the 12th century this church was a major halt - and it still is for all the tourists... A predecessing church „Saint-Pierre-de-la-Tour“ had been here, that, when the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella got more and more popular, was obviously to small, as Aulnay was conveniently situated between Poitiers and Saintes on the Via Turonensis. A new, larger church was needed, so the place was handed over to the chapter of the cathedral in Poitiers. The canons then probably planned this church, that was erected from about 1130/1140 on. "Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" is a gem of the "style saintongeais". For Peter Strafford ("Romanesque Churches Of France") this is "one of the best examples of late Romanesque architecture in what used to be Aquitaine". A wonderful apse-window. All over the Saintonge area this icon can be found: Vines entangle men, walking through a dangerous, hostile djungle. The window is flanked by eight masterly carved medaillons depicting this situation.