Eglise Saint-Saturnin
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Saint-Saturnin, located in Bégadan (Gironde), 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
- Bégadan, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 45.3568, -0.8933
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00083134
In Bégadan, the church of Saint-Saturnin conceals a Romanesque gem from the 12th century: a five-sided apse adorned with carved capitals depicting fantastical animals, two of which are in antique marble, bearing witness to a thousand-year-old past.
History
In the heart of the Médoc wine-growing region, in the discreet village of Bégadan, the church of Saint-Saturnin is like a stone palimpsest in which twelve centuries of religious and architectural history are superimposed. Behind the rebuilt 19th-century façade, with its slender bell tower topped by a spire, lies a Romanesque treasure of rare elegance: a 12th-century apse that has survived successive alterations and the near-destruction of the medieval building. What makes Saint-Saturnin truly unique is the unexpected cohabitation of 19th-century neo-Gothic style with the skilful restraint of Saintonge Romanesque art. The apse, semi-circular on the inside and polygonal on the outside, is a veritable open-air manual of Romanesque sculpture. Its capitals rival each other in inventiveness: stylised foliage, hybrid creatures and fantastic animals are displayed with an expressive freedom characteristic of southern Romanesque art. But the ultimate surprise lies in two Corinthian marble capitals, probably taken from an ancient Gallo-Roman monument, which remind us that this Medoc region was inhabited long before the first abbots of Vertheuil. A visit to Saint-Saturnin is also a chance to immerse yourself in the landscape of the northern Médoc, a far cry from the great wine châteaux for which the region is famous. The church watches over a farming and wine-growing village where time seems to have a different density. The contrast between the neo-Gothic spire dominating the vines as far as the eye can see and the Romanesque apse nestling at the back creates a particularly photogenic architectural silhouette. The attentive visitor will take the time to walk around the building to appreciate the elegance of the clusters of three engaged columns adorning the projecting corners of the apse, and the blind geminated windows on the upper floor with their finely crafted colonnettes. A visit that rewards curiosity and a trained eye.
Architecture
The architecture of Saint-Saturnin is characterised by a striking duality between the twelfth-century Romanesque apse, the only survivor of the medieval building, and the nave, rebuilt in the nineteenth century in a sober neo-Gothic style. The apse is the architectural and heritage heart of the building. Semicircular on the inside according to the classical Romanesque plan, on the outside it adopts a five-sided profile characteristic of the polygonal apses of the southern Romanesque. Two solid turrets can still be seen at the base of the choir, the remains of the former vault support system. The sculpted decoration of the apse is remarkably rich for a rural building. The projecting corners of the polygon are clad with clusters of three engaged columns, the central one crowned with a sculpted capital. The upper storey features a series of blind geminated windows, each organised around a central column flanked by four lateral columns, creating an elegant ornamental rhythm. The interior capitals combine plant sculptures - acanthus leaves and foliage - with a fantastic bestiary typical of the Romanesque imagination: hybrid creatures, griffins and intertwined animals from illuminated manuscripts of the period. The most unusual feature of the building is the presence of two white marble Corinthian capitals, ancient replacements integrated into the Romanesque masonry. The 19th-century bell tower, with its stone spire, dominates the village and gives the church its familiar silhouette in the Médoc landscape.
Related Figures
Les chanoines de l'abbaye de Vertheuil — commanditaires de l'édifice roman au XIIe siècleProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action conduisit à la protection de l'église dès 1862Artisans sculpteurs romans itinérants — auteurs des chapiteaux ornés de feuillages et d'animaux fantastiquesBâtisseurs gallo-romains anonymes — dont les chapiteaux corinthiens en marbre furent remployés dans l'abside médiévale
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Saturnin located?
Eglise Saint-Saturnin is located in Bégadan, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Saturnin built?
Eglise Saint-Saturnin dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Saturnin open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Saturnin is currently closed to visitors.