Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice, located in Chinon (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
- Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.1669, 0.2359
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097666
In the heart of Chinon, Saint-Maurice church boasts five centuries of sacred architecture, from the austere Romanesque of the 12th century to the Plantagenet vaults, crowned by a low Renaissance nave added in 1543.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Set in the medieval fabric of Chinon, Saint-Maurice church is one of the few parishes in Touraine to bear such continuous witness to French religious architecture, from the full Romanesque to the Renaissance. Far from being a static building, it reads like a stone palimpsest, where each construction campaign has left its mark on the masonry, the profiles of the arches and the overall silhouette of the building. What makes Saint-Maurice truly unique is the harmonious coexistence of several architectural grammars under one roof. The oldest parts, the result of reconstruction in the twelfth century, retain the sober rigour of late Romanesque, while successive extensions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries introduced the lierne and tierceron vaults characteristic of Plantagenet Gothic, a style unique to the Loire Valley and Anjou, with a discreet yet powerful elegance. The lower nave, added in 1543, is the Renaissance addition to the ensemble. It bears witness to a period when Chinon, a royal town just a few leagues from Amboise and Blois, was bathed in the influence of François I's great building projects. This late addition significantly alters the perception of the interior of the church, creating a play of levels and light that pleasantly surprises visitors. Visiting Saint-Maurice also means immersing yourself in medieval Chinon. The church is nestled in a district where the timber-framed streets and Renaissance mansions are a reminder that this town was one of the unofficial capitals of medieval France, the scene of the meeting between Joan of Arc and the Dauphin Charles. The patina of the tuffeau stone, the soft, luminous limestone so characteristic of the Loire Valley, gives the building a warm, almost organic presence in its urban environment. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1913, the building is protected to ensure the preservation of its outstanding features. For anyone interested in the religious architecture of the Loire, Saint-Maurice is a must-see, complementing the great abbeys and cathedrals of the region, with the added bonus of a church that is still alive in the heart of a town steeped in history.
Architecture
Saint-Maurice church has a longitudinal plan with a single nave flanked by a lower side aisle, the result of successive building campaigns between the 12th and 16th centuries. The Romanesque sections, recognisable by the thickness of their walls and the sobriety of their ornamentation, form the backbone of the building. The arcatures and supports betray a late Romanesque style, solid and uncluttered, typical of the workshops in the Loire Valley in the second half of the 12th century. The Gothic campaigns of the 15th and 16th centuries enriched the interior with lierne and tierceron vaults, characteristic of the so-called Plantagenet or Angevin Gothic style, whose distinctive feature is to flatten the dome to create an effect of lightness and breadth. These ribbed vaults, with their multiple radiating branches, produce a highly sophisticated decorative effect while elegantly solving the problems of covering large spaces. Tuffeau, a local shell limestone with a cream to golden hue, is the dominant building material, as it is in almost all of Chinon's buildings: light, easy to carve and sculpt, it develops a graceful patina over the centuries. The lower nave, added in 1543, is the Renaissance addition to the ensemble. It opens onto the main nave through large arches whose moulded profiles betray the influence of new ornamental repertoires imported from Italy. This juxtaposition of different volumes and levels gives the interior a spatial complexity that is unusual for a parish of this size, playing with light and depth in a particularly successful way. The west facade, sober and well-paced by its buttresses, fits harmoniously into the medieval urban fabric of Chinon.
Related Figures
Henri II Plantagenêt — roi d'Angleterre et comte d'Anjou, dont le mécénat architectural marque profondément Chinon au XIIe siècleRichard Cœur de Lion — fils d'Henri II, mort au château de Chinon en 1199, contemporain de la reconstruction romane de l'égliseJeanne d'Arc — rencontre le dauphin Charles au château de Chinon en 1429, fréquentant vraisemblablement les lieux de culte de la villeCharles VII — dauphin puis roi de France, séjourne longuement à Chinon durant la guerre de Cent AnsFrançois Rabelais — natif de la région chinonaise (né vers 1494 à La Devinière), contemporain des derniers travaux de 1543Prosper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action nationale prépare le classement de l'église en 1913
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice located?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice is located in Chinon, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice built?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice open to visitors?
Eglise paroissiale Saint-Maurice is currently closed to visitors.