Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg
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Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg, located in Huismes (Indre-et-Loire), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Huismes, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.2324, 0.2517
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097778
In the heart of the Chinon region, Saint-Maurice d'Huismes is home to the only covered gallery of its kind in the world, crossing the street to link the church to its Renaissance deanery - a stone dialogue between the sacred and the secular.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the village of Huismes, on the edge of the Touraine Loire Valley, the church of Saint-Maurice is one of the Chinon region's most endearing architectural curiosities. Its charm lies not only in its Romanesque origins and the strength of its medieval bell-tower: it is the 16th-century covered gallery, built in a triumphal arch over the street to link the church to the former logis du Doyenné, that makes this monument an architectural object without any real equivalent in France. Crossing this gallery means crossing five centuries of history in just a few steps. On one side, the Romanesque western façade; on the other, the sober Renaissance elegance of the Doyenné, the former home of the canons. Between the two, this covered passageway creates a kind of sacred interior street, a physical link between the life of the parish and that of the clergy who administered it. Few parish buildings have retained such architectural and functional continuity. The interior of the church reveals other surprises. The bell tower, built at the crossing of the transept, rests on powerful tiers-point arches whose capitals, sculpted with foliage, hooks and fantastic creatures, bear witness to the remarkable vitality of Romanesque sculpture. The ribbed vaulting in the central bay is sober and well-balanced, inviting you to look up and see a lapidary geometry of great purity. The garden of the former presbytery, also protected as a Historic Monument, adds a contemplative dimension to the visit. This well-preserved green space, a legacy of the horticultural practices of the Touraine clergy, offers a haven of serenity between the tufa stone walls. The soft light of the Loire Valley filters through the foliage, bathing the whole area in an atmosphere that reconciles history and the landscape.
Architecture
The church of Saint-Maurice d'Huismes belongs to the Romanesque tradition of Touraine, characterised by the use of tuffeau, the soft golden limestone quarried from the cliffs of the Loire Valley. The bell tower, the dominant feature of the town's skyline, is a strong square tower that rises above the bay forming the choir. It is flanked to the north by a cylindrical staircase turret, and its belfry floor opens out into beautiful gemeled tiers-point windows with double archivolts, a formula that creates an effect of depth and relief characteristic of late Romanesque art. Inside, the central bay under the tower is covered by a ribbed vault carried by tiers-point arcades with concentric arches of rectangular cross-section. The capitals that crown the engaged columns are a veritable museum of Romanesque sculpture in miniature: stylised foliage, hooks, characters and fantastical animals stand side by side in a debauchery of lapidary imagination. The nave, remodelled in the 19th century with the addition of a side aisle, has a more composite profile. The 16th-century covered gallery, a masterpiece of functional ingenuity, is the site's most distinctive feature. Spanning the public thoroughfare, it establishes physical continuity between the western facade of the church and the logis du Doyenné, a soberly elegant Renaissance building. The walled garden of the former presbytery completes the ensemble, giving it the depth of a cloistered estate left in the open air.
Related Figures
Les doyens du chapitre d'Huismes (XVIe siècle), commanditaires probables de la galerie couverte reliant l'église au DoyennéLes abbés de Bourgueil, seigneurs ecclésiastiques dont relevait la paroisse d'Huismes au Moyen ÂgeLes comtes d'Anjou et Plantagenêts, dont l'influence politique et artistique marqua profondément l'architecture religieuse du Chinonais au XIIe siècleLes architectes du diocèse de Tours au XIXe siècle, responsables de la restauration de la nef et de l'adjonction du bas-côtéProsper Mérimée ou ses successeurs à la Commission des Monuments Historiques, ayant œuvré au classement précoce de 1913
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg located?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg is located in Huismes, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg built?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg open to visitors?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice ainsi que le passage couvert qui relie l'église au logis dit du Doyenné et le jardin de l'ancien presbytère situé au lieu-dit le Bourg is currently closed to visitors.