Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Collégiale Saint-Quiriace

Odo II, Count of Blois (= "Eudes le Champenois"), who spent his life in endless feudal wars with his neighbours, whose territories he tried to annex, founded a collegiate for Canons Secular here around 1030. When Odo´s son Theobald the Great (= "Thibaut de Blois") tried to introduce the rules of the Canons Regular, he failed. His son Henry I (= "Henri le Libéral") funded the Canons, so that in 1157 the erection of the collegiate church, seen here, started. 10 years later, the choir was already completed. Within the next decades the transept and the nave´s eastern bay followed, before the progress slowed down, due to the dwindeling importance of the "Foires de Champagne", the annual trading faires. The works completely stopped and the church got finally consecrated in 1504. In 1625 the western facade was created, just by bricking up the nave. After a fire in 1662 the vaults collapsed, the church got rebuilt and a century later got an immense crossing tower. Here is a detail from the early Gothic choir, completed in 1167. The structure seems oversized. If the collegiate church would have been completed according to the floor plan of the mid 12th century, the dimnensions of this church would have been close to that of Notre-Dame in Paris.

Odo II, Count of Blois (= "Eudes le Champenois"), who spent his life in endless feudal wars with his neighbours, whose territories he tried to annex, founded a collegiate for Canons Secular here around 1030. When Odo´s son Theobald the Great (= "Thibaut de Blois") tried to introduce the rules of the Canons Regular, he failed. His son Henry I (= "Henri le Libéral") funded the Canons, so that in 1157 the erection of the collegiate church, seen here, started. 10 years later, the choir was already completed. Within the next decades the transept and the nave´s eastern bay followed, before the progress slowed down, due to the dwindeling importance of the "Foires de Champagne", the annual trading faires. The works completely stopped and the church got finally consecrated in 1504. In 1625 the western facade was created, just by bricking up the nave. After a fire in 1662 the vaults collapsed, the church got rebuilt and a century later got an immense crossing tower. The early Gothic choir, completed in 1167, seems oversized. If the collegiate church would have been completed according to the floor plan of the mid 12th century, the dimnensions of this church would have been close to that of Notre-Dame in Paris.

Odo II, Count of Blois (= "Eudes le Champenois"), who spent his life in endless feudal wars with his neighbours, whose territories he tried to annex, founded a collegiate for Canons Secular here around 1030. When Odo´s son Theobald the Great (= "Thibaut de Blois") tried to introduce the rules of the Canons Regular, he failed. His son Henry I (= "Henri le Libéral") funded the Canons, so that in 1157 the erection of the collegiate church, seen here, started. 10 years later, the choir was already completed. Within the next decades the transept and the nave´s eastern bay followed, before the progress slowed down, due to the dwindeling importance of the "Foires de Champagne", the annual trading faires. The works completely stopped and the church got finally consecrated in 1504. In 1625 the western facade was created, just by bricking up the nave. After a fire in 1662 the vaults collapsed, the church got rebuilt and a century later got an immense crossing tower.

Provins was home to one of the important "Champagne fairs" in medieval times, when the city was under the protection of Counts of Champagne. With a population of more than 70.000 Provins was one of the largest cities in France at that time. Meanwhile only about 12.000 people live in Provins, a "Ville d'art et d'histoire" and a "UNESCO World Heritage Site". It is known for its medieval fortifications, seen to the right is the Tour César (12th century) and its churches. One is the Collégiale Saint-Quiriace, seen to the left.