Eglise Saint-Lubin
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Saint-Lubin, located in Mazangé (Loir-et-Cher), 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
- Mazangé, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8231, 0.9464
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098473
In Mazangé, the church of Saint-Lubin boasts a 12th-century Romanesque bell tower directly inspired by the famous Trinité de Vendôme abbey church, crowned by a majestic octagonal stone spire. A discreet gem in the Loir-et-Cher region.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the peaceful village of Mazangé, on the edge of the Vendôme region, Saint-Lubin church is one of those monuments that reserve their grandeur for attentive visitors. Although seemingly modest, it conceals several centuries of history superimposed with remarkable architectural coherence, from its pre-Romanesque stonework to its 15th-century panelled roof structure adorned with surprisingly fresh paintings. What sets Saint-Lubin apart from so many other small rural churches in the region is its bell tower: a 12th-century Romanesque tower that owes nothing to chance. Its architects were deliberately inspired by the bell tower of the Trinité de Vendôme, one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in the Loire Valley, when they designed this rectangular, two-storey tower, pierced by narrow windows and crowned with a high octagonal spire of carved stone. This link with the great Vendôme monument gives Saint-Lubin a special status in the département's architectural panorama. The interior is also full of surprises. The single nave, rebuilt in the 15th century, is covered with a panelled roof, the painted decoration of which evokes the local workshops of the late Middle Ages, combining geometric motifs and plant illuminations. The atmosphere is that of a living church, bearing the traces of its faithful through the centuries. The later chancel with its flat chevet extends this space soberly eastwards before the sacristy, while the north wall of the nave preserves the silent remains of an even older building, testimony to an archaic church with a rectangular chancel whose primitive silhouette can still be read in the stone. A visit to Saint-Lubin means taking in over a thousand years of sacred architecture in a single glance.
Architecture
Saint-Lubin church has a simple, clear plan: a single nave running east-west, extended by a choir with a flat, slightly differentiated chevet, adjoined by the sacristy on the east side. The bell tower stands at the junction of the nave and the choir, in the north-east corner of the nave, a position typical of modest-sized Romanesque buildings in the Loire Valley. The bell tower is undoubtedly the building's architectural masterpiece. Rectangular in plan, it rises in two storeys punctuated by round-arched bays with meticulous splaying, before transforming into an octagonal stone spire, a strong visual statement that is strongly reminiscent of the famous bell tower of La Trinité in Vendôme. This transition from square to octagon, resolved by corner pyramidions, bears witness to the mastery of twelfth-century Romanesque stonemasons. Inside, the 15th-century nave is covered by a panelled roof - a wooden ceiling in the form of a broken barrel vault - the panels of which bear painted decoration from the medieval period, combining floral, geometric and possibly figurative motifs. The north wall of the nave retains pre-Romanesque masonry from the early church, which can be seen in the irregular pattern of the courses and the profile of the joints. The choir, sober and luminous thanks to its modern windows, offers a bright counterpoint to the ornamental richness of the nave.
Related Figures
Évêques de Chartres (IXe-XIIe siècle) — suzerains de la prévôté de Mazangé, commanditaires indirects des premières constructions religieusesMaîtres d'œuvre romans anonymes (XIIe siècle) — architectes du clocher, inspirés du modèle de la Trinité de VendômeThibaut V de Blois (comte de Blois et de Chartres, XIIe siècle) — seigneur influent de la région durant la construction du clocher romanArtisans peintres anonymes (XVe siècle) — auteurs de la décoration peinte de la charpente lambrisséeAbbés de la Trinité de Vendôme (XIe-XIIe siècle) — diffuseurs du modèle architectural repris à Mazangé
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Lubin located?
Eglise Saint-Lubin is located in Mazangé, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Lubin built?
Eglise Saint-Lubin dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Lubin open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Lubin is currently closed to visitors.