Eglise Saint-Martin
ChurchHidden Treasure
Au cœur du Berry, l'église Saint-Martin de Touchay dévoile un gothique flamboyant intact : voûtes en ogive du XVe siècle, chapelle seigneuriale des La Châtre et fragments de vitraux Renaissance d'une rare délicatesse.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the peaceful village of Touchay, in the south of the Cher department, the church of Saint-Martin is one of those small rural churches in the Berry region that, behind a modest façade, conceal an unsuspected wealth of architectural and historical treasures. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1926, it is a sober testament to the religious art of the late Middle Ages in the provinces, far removed from the great cathedrals but animated by the same spiritual and aesthetic ambitions. What immediately sets Saint-Martin apart is the harmonious coexistence of several successive building campaigns: a timber-framed nave with exposed beams that exudes medieval austerity, a Gothic choir whose ribs open out into elegant pointed arches, and two side chapels with very distinct characteristics. The north chapel, rib-vaulted like the choir, is symmetrical with the south chapel, which has more generous proportions and a barrel vault - the signature of a transition to Renaissance forms. The south chapel is the centrepiece of the building. Built in the 16th century by the Lords of La Châtre, a great family from the Berry region whose influence had a profound effect on the region, its bedside window contains a few panels of stained glass from the period, precious coloured fragments in which the warm hues of Renaissance blown glass can still be discerned. Rare in a church of this size, these glazed remains make Saint-Martin a much more precious monument than it appears. A visit to the church, short but dense, offers a particularly well-paced journey through time. You move from the contemplative shadows of the nave to the filtered light of the choir, then on to the almost sepulchral intimacy of the seigneurial chapel. The contrast between the different vaults - frame, rib and barrel - is in itself a lesson in medieval and Renaissance architecture in miniature. The surrounding countryside adds to the charm of this stopover: Touchay, a quiet village in the Boischaut Sud region, is surrounded by hedged farmland and ponds typical of the deep Berry region. The church, which towers slightly above the village from its small cemetery, lends itself to photography in the late afternoon, when the low-angled light reveals the texture of the stonework and warms the tones of the 19th-century timber-framed bell tower.
Architecture
The church of Saint-Martin de Touchay has a simple longitudinal plan, typical of rural parish buildings in medieval Berry: a single nave preceded by a bell-tower façade, a choir with a square apse, and two side chapels grafted onto the north and south sides of the choir. The modestly sized structure is built of local limestone, the dominant material in the Boischaut region of Berry, which gives the walls their golden blond hue and uniform appearance despite the different building campaigns. The nave, with its exposed wooden roof frame, is spacious and luminous. The slightly raised chancel is vaulted with ogives over moulded ribs - the most common solution in flamboyant Gothic architecture in Central France at the end of the 15th century. The keystones and abutments bearing the starts of the ribs are the most carefully sculpted elements in the building. The north chapel uses the same Gothic vocabulary with great consistency, forming a remarkable stylistic unity with the choir. The south chapel, a 16th-century seigneurial foundation, is clearly distinguished by its semi-circular barrel vault, which reflects the Renaissance influence in the layout of the forms. Its chevet window, the lancets of which preserve fragments of ancient stained glass in deep shades of red and blue, is the focal point of the entire visit. The west facade, remodelled in 1860, is topped by a slate-covered timber-framed bell tower, whose lightness contrasts pleasantly with the masonry mass of the rest of the building.
Related Figures
Les seigneurs de La Châtre — famille noble berrichonne fondatrice de la chapelle sud au XVIe siècleSaint Martin de Tours — saint patron de l'église, évêque évangélisateur de la Gaule au IVe siècle dont le culte est omniprésent dans le BerryLes maîtres maçons locaux anonymes du XVe siècle — artisans des voûtes en ogive du chœur et de la chapelle nordLe vitrier renaissant anonyme — auteur des fragments de vitraux du XVIe siècle conservés dans la chapelle sudLes membres de la fabrique paroissiale de 1860 — commanditaires de la reconstruction de la façade et du clocher de charpente
