Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: chevet

Saint-Pierre was erected on an ancient Gallo-Roman site from the 11th century on. During the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religions the single nave church got strongly fortified. Standing in the center in the center of the "cloverleaf" chevet facing west to the portal´s door.

Saint-Pierre was erected on an ancient Gallo-Roman site from the 11th century on. During the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religions the church got strongly fortified. During the fortification an additional storey, with a crenellated guard walk, was added to the chevet. The plan of the chevet was originally a rarely seen "cloverleaf" form.

This carved capital is place outside under the roof of one of the the radiating chapels of Notre-Du-Port. I am sure, that this capital is directly connected to one carved by ROTBERTUS, placed on one of the pillars at the choir inside. Both have the same theme - and a very similar style! Depicted here are "Adam and Eve" in the Garden of Eden. They are both young, pretty and innocent. They are kneeling, holding a grape - perfectly symmetrically. They seem to pose. No snake - no danger. Just "another day in paradies". Please not the black and white mosaics.

Transept, choir, ambulatory and the radiating chapels of Notre-Du-Port from outside! In the residential-building opposite the church is a public balcony up the third floor, to see this! "Merci beaucoup!" to the people living there, tolerating all the tourists on their stairs up and down. Unfortunately my camera does not offer the wide angle, needed to take the photo, I wanted... These "multi-staging" chevets/apses are very typical for the romanesque churches of the Auvergne. Compare this to "Saint-Nectaire" or "Notre-Dame d’Orcival". The mosaics and the capitals are renovated, but still pretty original. Only the roof-tiles got replaced recently. Note the carved capital in the middle under the roof. Two griffons drinking out of a chalice.

Liutgarde of Vermandois, daughter of (Carolingian) Herbert II, widow of William I of Normandy (aka "William Longsword", "Guillaume Longue-Épée") and spouse of Theobald I (aka "Theobald the Trickster", "Thibaud le Tricheur"), donated her property at Gesiacum (= Juziers) including the existing church to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Chartres in 978. Soon after Comtesse Luitgarde died and the monks established a priory here. Within the 11th century the nave of Saint-Michel got erected. The choir got added about a century later. During the Wars of Religion the buildings burnt down, but a rebuilding process started again. It started to crumble again. After the Revolution the priory did not exist any longer. For a while the church was used as an "atelier de salpêtre", what meant high explosives were stored and handled here. Some poor restoration had been done in the early years of the 19th century, before Prosper Mérimée added the building to the lists of "Monuments Historiques" in 1850. The very knowledgeable, friendly lady gave us a great tour and even switched the light on. Here is the early Gothic chevet, erected around 1150 - and up to the French Revolution reserved strictly for the monks of the priory. The lower level consists of blind arcades topped by a large window within each section of the wall. The second level has added a blind triforium with a passageway that encircles the apse. The chevet has tall colonnettes that reach up from the floor with vaults springing at the base of the clerestory. The clerestory contains a single lancet window within each section, smaller than those of the first level.

Raoul de Bourges (aka "Saint Raoul"), archbishop of Bourges, son of the Count of Turenne founded an abbey on the banks of the Dordogne river in the 9th century with the help of monks from Solignac, where Raoul had started his clerical career. After feudal quarrels, the abbey Saint-Pierre joined the Cluniac movement about 200 years later. Soon after the erection of this church started and was completed already mid 12th century. Though not situated at the busy pilgrim routes (eg "Via Podensis" runs about 60kms south) a large, typical "pilgrim church" was created here. It may well been, that the relics, that were on display here (Saint-Prime, Saint-Félicien, Sainte-Félicité) and the proximity to Rocamador (30kms southwest) motivated many pilgrims to do a detour. The abbey slipped into difficult times, when the number of pilgrims shrunk and feudal claims emerged again. The abbey and the city of Beaulieu suffered of the Wars of Religion. The Huguenots took over Beaulieu in 1569 and the monks had to flee. After the "Ligue Catholique" had reconquered the place, the monks returned and soon after the convent joined the Congregation of Saint Maur. The abbey existed upto the French revolution, when the last 6 monks had to leave. The abbey buildings got sold and demolished, while the church was taken over by the parish. The structure was in a ruined state at that time. The nave partly collapsed in 1808, but a difficult renovation undertaken end of the 19th century finally saved the church. An ambulatory is a feature all pilgrim-churches have, so does Saint-Pierre. Here is the chevet with the ambulatory chapels.

Parish church Saint Saturnin, in the village of Mosnac (aka "Mosnac sur Seugne"), dates back to the 12th century. The old single nave church, here seen from the east, got enlarged by an aisle in the 15th century. The sacristy was added probably in the 19th century.

The parish church Saint-Sulpice in the village of Marignac was erected within the 12th century as part of a priory, founded here by the Charroux Abbey (120kms southeast). The church has a remarkable cloverleaf layout. The eastern part, seen here and the portal are still dating back to the first church here, while the outer walls of the nave have been rebuilt, after destruction by war.