Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant, located in La Celle-Saint-Avant (Indre-et-Loire), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- La Celle-Saint-Avant, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.0219, 0.6044
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097619
Nestling in the heart of southern Touraine, the church of Saint-Avant in La Celle-Saint-Avant boasts a Romanesque west doorway with three arches and a sculpted apse of rare elegance dating from the 11th and 12th centuries.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the quiet market town of La Celle-Saint-Avant, on the borders of Chinonais and leafy Touraine, the parish church of Saint-Avant stands out as one of the most endearing examples of Romanesque art in the Loire Valley. Far from the crowds that flock to the great châteaux of the Loire, this discreet sanctuary offers those who know how to look at it an extraordinarily accomplished lesson in stone, where every modillion and every capital tells of the faith and skill of the medieval builders. What makes Saint-Avant so special is first and foremost its western doorway: three carefully moulded semi-circular arches open onto the nave in an almost musical movement, the archivolts resting on sculpted capitals where stylised foliage and fantastic creatures seem suspended in a secular half-sleep. Few rural portals in Touraine have preserved such formal integrity. The semi-circular apse is the other jewel in the building's crown. Backed by slender buttress-columns, it is crowned by a frieze of sculpted modillions - grimacing faces, geometric motifs, animal silhouettes - that bear witness to the inventiveness of twelfth-century Romanesque artists. The belfry, with its twin bays on the belfry floor, completes the sober, proud silhouette characteristic of the portal belfries of the Loire Valley. The tour is short but dense, and is just as much for the medieval architecture enthusiast as it is for the curious walker keen to get away from the beaten track. Inside, the sobriety of the nave, restored in the 19th century, invites you to reflect and highlights the quality of the original Romanesque structure. Around the church, the village retains an authentic Touraine atmosphere, ideal for a stop-off on a tour between Richelieu and L'Île-Bouchard.
Architecture
Saint-Avant church is in the most sincere rural version of the Poitevin-Tourange Romanesque style. The plan, which is classic for a modest parish, features a single nave running east-west, a bell tower on the front and a semi-circular apse, following a pattern common in the Touraine countryside in the 12th century. The materials used are local tuffeau limestone, a soft blonde stone typical of the Loire Valley that is easy to carve but sensitive to erosion, which makes the still fine legibility of some of the modillions all the more remarkable. The western facade is the focus of most of the exterior decorative interest. Its three arched doorway is carefully moulded: the first smooth archivolt frames the next two, the keystones of which fall on columns with sculpted capitals, decorated with beautifully crafted plant and figurative motifs. The bell tower, probably built as a continuation of this facade, rises in a sober register to the belfry, pierced by two semi-circular arched bays, which provide the acoustics needed to project the sound of the bells. The apse is the discreet masterpiece of the whole. Its colonnade of half-columned pilaster buttresses gives a measured elegance to the external rhythm of the chevet, while the cornice is supported by a series of sculpted modillions - expressive human heads, fantastical animals, geometric palmettes - forming a veritable Romanesque bestiary in miniature. The interior, remodelled in the 19th century, retains the barrel vault of the apse and the massive, soothing proportions typical of Romanesque architecture.
Related Figures
Saint Avant (Adventus), évêque de Tours au IVe siècle, saint patron et dédicataire de l'égliseSaint Martin de Tours, figure tutélaire du christianisme tourangeau ayant structuré le réseau paroissial de la régionLes imagiers romans du XIIe siècle, tailleurs de pierre anonymes auteurs des chapiteaux et modillons sculptésLes chanoines de Saint-Martin de Tours, probables patrons ecclésiastiques de la paroisse au Moyen ÂgeEugène Viollet-le-Duc, dont la doctrine de restauration inspira les travaux du XIXe siècle sur l'édifice
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant located?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant is located in La Celle-Saint-Avant, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant built?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant open to visitors?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Avant is currently closed to visitors.