Eglise Notre-Dame
ChurchHidden Treasure
Nestling in the heart of the Perche region of Chartres, the church of Notre-Dame des Étilleux boasts a flamboyant Gothic bell tower and porch of remarkable sculptural finesse, bearing witness to eight centuries of parish history.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the gentle hills of the Perche region of Chartres, the village of Les Étilleux is home to a discreet jewel that you'd hardly suspect from the road: the church of Notre-Dame, whose grey stones tell the story of the evolution of architectural taste in the late Middle Ages. Listed as a Historic Monument since 2003, it belongs to that family of French rural churches where each century has left its mark without erasing that of its predecessors. What makes Notre-Dame des Étilleux truly unique is precisely this stratification, visible to the naked eye: the late Romanesque nave - sober, massive, reassuring - contrasts with the ribbed elegance of the flamboyant Gothic bell tower-porch, whose sculpted decoration rivals that of much more famous buildings. Chiselled pinnacles, delicate arcatures, stone bestiaries: the western portal alone is a lesson in medieval iconography. The interior holds other surprises. The choir, added at the turn of the 16th century, preserves the last vestiges of the flamboyant Gothic style in its ribbed and tierceron vaults, while the light filters through ogival windows that bathe the space in a golden glow in the afternoon. The overall effect is a quiet interior, conducive to contemplation as well as study. The setting adds to the charm of the visit: the church stands in the heart of the village, surrounded by its historic cemetery with its steles worn down by the centuries, in a landscape of hedged farmland and orchards typical of the deep Perche region. For the attentive visitor, it's an unmissable stop-off on the byways between Chartres and Le Mans, far from the crowds and the signposted routes.
Architecture
The church of Notre-Dame des Étilleux follows the classic longitudinal plan of medieval rural parish churches: a single nave opening onto a slightly narrower chancel, preceded to the west by an imposing bell tower-porch. The latter is the architectural centrepiece of the building. Built at the end of the 15th century, it features a wealth of flamboyant Gothic ornamentation: openwork gables, slender pinnacles, complex mouldings framing the entrance portal, whose voussoirs house a sculpted programme combining stylised plant motifs and iconographic figures. The local limestone, which varies in colour from golden beige to bluish grey depending on exposure, lends the whole a soothing chromatic harmony. The nave, which is older (late 12th - early 13th century), reveals its late Romanesque origins in the thickness of its gutter walls and the sobriety of its supports, in deliberate contrast to the ornate profusion of the bell tower. The choir, added at the beginning of the 16th century, adopts a flamboyant Gothic style, with complex ribbed vaults - liernes and tiercerons forming stone stars - falling on sculpted bases. The tiers-point windows, which may have been stained-glass windows in the past, now let in direct, unobstructed light that highlights the quality of the stonework. Despite its many chronological layers, the whole forms a coherent whole, characteristic of parish buildings in the Perche region of Chartres.
Related Figures
Abbés de Saint-Père de Chartres (XIIe siècle) — seigneurs ecclésiastiques dont l'abbaye exerçait la tutelle sur l'église dès 1117Fabrique paroissiale des Étilleux (fin XVe siècle) — commanditaires présumés du clocher-porche gothique flamboyantMaître maçon inconnu (vers 1490-1510) — artisan qualifié à qui l'on attribue le décor sculpté du clocher-porcheCurés de la paroisse des Étilleux (XVIe-XIXe siècles) — gardiens successifs du patrimoine bâti et liturgique de l'édifice
