Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne)
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne), located in Angers (Maine-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
- Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4775, -0.5587
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108877
Vestige roman du cœur d'Angers, l'ancienne église Saint-Laurent révèle aux amateurs de patrimoine ses sobres volumes romans du XIe siècle, classée Monument Historique depuis 1965.
History
Nestling in the dense urban fabric of Angers, the former church of Saint-Laurent is one of the most authentic examples of Romanesque architecture in Anjou in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its apparent simplicity conceals a remarkable wealth of construction, the result of the masonry skills of the workshops in the Loire Valley during this pivotal period, when the region was becoming a leading artistic centre under the influence of the Counts of Anjou. What distinguishes Saint-Laurent from a simple neighbourhood building is precisely its ability to condense in a single volume the architectural evolution of an entire century. First built in the 11th century, then remodelled and enlarged in the 12th century, the church is a perfect illustration of the way in which Anjou's Romanesque builders adapted their models from the Loire to local constraints, using sober buttresses and round arched openings to combine light and solidity. The experience of visiting the buildings invites you to take a close look at the stones themselves. The white tufa stone from the Loire Valley, the material of choice for builders in Anjou, gives the building its characteristic soft luminosity. To approach the walls is to decipher two centuries of medieval construction: the changes in the masonry, the variations in the bonding and the traces of bricked-up openings tell the story of the turbulent life of a medieval urban parish better than any text. The church is part of a medieval Angers of which many traces remain: the nearby cathedral of Saint-Maurice, the formidable silhouette of the Dukes' castle, and the network of ancient parishes of which Saint-Laurent was a discreet but essential link. Now no longer used for religious worship, it offers curious walkers a timeless pause in the continuity of an Anjou heritage that never ceases to surprise.
Architecture
The former church of Saint-Laurent belongs to the Angevin Romanesque style, characterised by an economy of formal means combined with great structural mastery. The layout, probably organised around a central nave flanked by aisles or a single nave depending on the phase of construction, follows the typical patterns of small parish churches in the Loire region in the 11th and 12th centuries. The chancel ends in a semi-circular apse, the canonical form of Romanesque architecture in the region. Most of the walls are built of tuffeau, the soft, creamy-white limestone quarried from the cliffs of the Loire Valley and omnipresent in Anjou architecture. This material, which is easy to carve and sufficiently resistant, enabled Romanesque builders to pay great attention to detail despite their modest means. Round arched windows, flat buttresses and sculpted modillions under the cornices were the main elements of the exterior decoration, while the interior was built around large arcades resting on cruciform or cylindrical pillars. The sober ornamentation of the building is characteristic of the Anjou Romanesque style, which favours the quality of the stonework and the rigour of the volumes over the sculptural exuberance that can be found in other regions. This simplicity gives Saint-Laurent an elegant austerity that speaks directly to lovers of medieval heritage, attracted by the authenticity of the stonework rather than decorative ostentation.
Related Figures
Foulques Nerra (972-1040), comte d'Anjou et grand bâtisseur, dont l'impulsion religieuse prépara le terrain aux fondations paroissiales angevines du siècle suivantGeoffroy Plantagenêt (1113-1151), comte d'Anjou, mécène architectural dont le règne correspond aux premières campagnes probables de constructionHenri II Plantagenêt (1133-1189), roi d'Angleterre et comte d'Anjou, sous le règne duquel les transformations du XIIe siècle donnèrent à l'église sa physionomie définitiveÉvêques d'Angers des XIe-XIIe siècles, tuteurs ecclésiastiques des paroisses urbaines angevines et garants de leur développement
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) located?
Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) is located in Angers, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) built?
Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Laurent (ancienne) is currently closed to visitors.
