Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: cyclops

Saint-Pierre is a Romanesque church in the middle of the countryside. The tower was erected late 11th century. The church was once built in the basilica style, but the side aisles were destroyed in the early 18th century. Under the roof of Saint-Pierre is a long row of interesting corbels. The medieval artist, who carved them, was very creative and so here are some unusual corbels. I had found already one cyclops (previous upload), but next to the climber (left) is another one. This cyclops is obviously devouring a soul! This is the only church I found in France so far with two cyclopes. Find more examples of this rare species are under the previous upload.

Saint-Pierre is a Romanesque church in the middle of the countryside. The tower was erected late 11th century. The church was once built in the basilica style, but the side aisles were destroyed in the early 18th century. Under the roof of Saint-Pierre is a long row of interesting corbels. The medieval artist, who carved them, was very creative and so here are some unusual corbels. Here is a cyclops, a very rare species!

"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". Saint-Pierre´s "South Porch" is what attracts busloads of tourists to stop in Aulnay. And they are right.The "South Porch" is mindblowing. The most outer archivolt is the most spectacular one. So far the icons were somehow in an expectable "christian tradition" (Elders, Saints), but here mythical beasts and fantastic hybrid creatures come to life. Some of these chimerae probably derive from medieval Bestiary, while others seem to come straight from a drug related nightmare. Four very strange creatures are fighting each other, two of them look like (symmetrical) twins, having lion´s paws and bird´s claws. It seems to be so noisy here, that the winged cyclops, with nice beard and moustache, tries to leave the scene of ordeal. Cyclops are not often seen on medieval churches (I just remember two in Burgundy).