In Saintonge Where The Churches Are Too Beautiful

 

Abbaye aux Dames de Saintes

 

Basilique Saint-Eutrope à Saintes

 

 

Crypte de Sainte-Eutrope, Saintes.

 

                            

The churches of Saintonge have magnificent portals with the arches divided into three or four voussoirs and covered in innumerable motifs; acanthus leaves, palms, roses, scrolls, cables inspired by Gallo-Roman tradition, embroidery or weaving. The central portal is often flanked by two false bays suggesting the entrance to side-aisles, and the façade has several storeys of decoration, separated by a cornice. The Benedictine Abbaye-aux-Dames in Saintes is the most elegant example of the Romanesque Style in this magnificent city. The Basilica of Saint-Eutrope has a moving crypt housing the tomb of Eutrope, the great Saint of Saintonge.
"I am in a hopeless country", declared Prosper Mérimée in the 19th century. "The churches are too beautiful; they are all of the same plan, all over the same era. One might even say they were all built by the same architect". Saint-Amant-de-Boixe, Puypérous, Bassac, Chadenac, Ruffec... The churches display their classical heritage and have retained enthusiasm for columns and façades of exquisite proportions, with Hispano-Moorish influence, brought back by the Crusaders. This can be can seen in the infinite variations of ornamentation. Sadly, it has been wrecked by.....Read more here:   http://france.knoji.com/in-saintonge-where-the-churches-are-too-beautiful/
Prosper Mérimée, à qui l'on doit la restauration de nombre d'édifices médièvaux avec Viollet-le-Duc disait des églises de Saintonge qu'elles étaient trop belles, il ajoutait même qu'elles semblaient avoir été constuites par le même architecte tant leur plan est semblable tout au long de la même période. Bien sûr, il plaisantait et je vous invite à découvrir leur variété en suivant le lien ci-dessus.