Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: polylobe

The parish church Saint-Médulphe was built late 11th / early 12th century. During that time the parish was depending from the old Abbaye de Menat. The facade has this mozarabic portal. The mozarabic impact seen here, is called "polylobé" in French.

What is the parish church of the tiny village of Saint-Hilaire-la-Croix today, was the church of a priory, depending from Mozat around 1165. In the beginning the priory was named "Saint-Hilaire-lac-rouge", but over the time, the old name got a little "deformed". There is not much known about the priory. In the early years it served the pilgrims on their way - and somehow it was important enough, to built (and finance) such an extraordenary church. Bernard Craplet ("Auvergne romane") dates the building phase from around 1100 to 1200. Later Augustinian Canons and Vincentians lived here. Not a sucess story for the next centuries the buildings were sold already in 1742. The northern portal of Saint-Hilaire-la-Croix is very elaborate and combines different artistic styles. Bernard Craplet tracks the craftmen, who created this, back to a travelling group of artists, that left their marks in Fleuriel and other places in the area. He is probably right. I see even influences from the Saitonge. The inner archivolt actually reminds me on Ganagobie, what could mean that it has traces of mozarabic style. I will upload more detailled photos later.

Today Montréal is a small village (pop. 200), but here was already a fortified settlement, when the Normans raided the area and pillaged the place in 888. From the 11th century on here was a castle. Anseric I, Seigneur de Montréal, obviously listened to Bernard de Clairvaux, who preached the Second Crusade at near Vezelay in 1146. Returning home from the crusade Anseric I founded a collegiate and commissioned the erection of the collegiate church, seen here. The church was completed around 1170 by Anseric II. The convent existed upto the French Revolution. During the Revolution, the tympanum got destroyed and when for a year, the church served as a "Temple de la Raison". The according inscription is fading over the doors, where once the tympanum was. Today church serves the parish. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was impressed by the church, built during the transition from Romanesque to Gothic style, and cared for the restauration in the first half of the 19th century. He restored the nice portal. The polylobe arches seem influenced by Moorish architecture, a style, that was more common in Southern France. I learned, that the rose window, seen here, is one of the oldest of its kind in the whole of France.

The parish church of Vigois is the last structure of the former "Abbaye Saint-Pierre", founded here by Yrieix du Limousin (aka "St. Yriex", "Aredius") within the 6th century. So the "Abbaye Saint-Pierre" was one of the oldest convents within the Limousin. In the 9th century the Normans (Vikings) looted and ruined the abbey. After some decades, the abbey recovered and got rebuilt. In 1070 it burnt down. Since 1082 it was dependent from Cluniac Saint-Martial Abbey in Limoges and prospered during the 12th century. Destroyed again during the Hundred Years War, rebuilt again by the Bishop of Limoges. During the Wars of Religions Huguenot troops burnt down the nave of the church and vandalized many of the carvings. Another fire hit the church in 1705, when it fell into disrepair. All buildings of the convent got demolished after the French Revolution, only the Saint-Pierre, now the parish church, survived the times. The renovation of the nave was completed in the 1860s. Apse and crossing got restored early 20th century. Here is the polylobed arch of northern portal, typical for mozarabic architecture. There are birds (damaged), lions and to the right St. Peter and St. Paul.

The "Catedral de Santa Maria" in Huesca got erected over 300 years. The building started end of the 13th century in gothic style, replacing a mosque that had served as a church, since Huesca was conquered in 1096 by Christian troops led by Peter I of Aragon. This Romanesque portal, leading to the cloister, is one of the few traces of the "pre-Gothic" structure. The polylobe portal is strongly influenced by the moorish/Mozarabic style.