Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Fontenay-le-Comte)
The Catholic parish church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Fontenay-le-Comte , a municipality in the Vendée department in the French region of Pays de la Loire , was built on the site of a Romanesque predecessor in the 15th century in the Flamboyant Gothic style built. A crypt from pre-Romanesque times was uncovered under the choir of the church . The church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary was added to the list of architectural monuments in France in 1862 as Monument historique .
history
The first parish church of Fontenay-le-Comte was dedicated to the Apostle Peter . It was located in a different location and was no longer in existence at the beginning of the 13th century. In the place of today's Notre-Dame church was the chapel of the Sainte-Marie priory , which had served as a parish church from the early 12th century. This priory near the castle was first mentioned in 942 and was under the Benedictine abbey of Luçon . A new nave was built between 1423 and 1466, and the choir head with its three apses was added around 1540 . At the same time, the builder Liénard de La Réau added the Saint-Pierre chapel (also called Chapelle des Brissons ) to the south aisle . During the Huguenot Wars , the church was looted and set on fire and eventually used as a food store. Until 1593 the building served the Protestants as a place of worship. By an edict of Henry IV the church was returned to the Catholics in 1594, but they could not take possession of it again until five years later. In the years 1631 to 1648, when the bishops of Maillezais resided in Fontenay-le-Comte, the city briefly became a bishopric and the parish church became a cathedral .
During the French Revolution , the church was declared a “Temple of Reason” and all sculptures and religious symbols were damaged or destroyed. At times there was even an arms factory in the church. In 1801 the church became a Catholic place of worship again. It was not until 1902 that the central nave and choir were given a stone vault again.
architecture
The limestone bell tower rises from the west facade . Its octagonal top is flanked by four corner turrets and reaches a height of 82 meters. The two portals on the north and south sides have lost much of their original flamboyant decor. The three-aisled nave is divided into four bays .
crypt
The crypt was rediscovered during renovation work in the church in 1846. Wooden coffins and bones were also found during the exposure. The crypt is dated to the 9th to 11th centuries. It is covered with groin vaults that rest on 14 pillars, four of which are free. Six columns are made from a single block. The columns are decorated with simple cube capitals , two capitals are decorated with round discs with circular recesses.
Leaded glass window
From the middle of the 19th century, the church was fitted with leaded glass windows from the Lobin stained glass workshop in Tours. On the windows scenes from the life of Mary are depicted, such as Mary's temple passage, the Annunciation, the Visitation and her death. On other windows you can see the birth of Jesus, the adoration of the Magi, the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the twelve-year-old Jesus among the scribes. Most of the windows bear the signature of the Lobin workshop.
Passage to the Temple of Mary
Mary's death
Annunciation, expulsion from paradise
Birth of Jesus, prophet Isaiah and King David
Furnishing
- The main marble altar dates from 1682.
- The pulpit , carved from walnut wood , was installed in the church in 1787. The pulpit rests on the back of an atlas . A medallion on the pulpit represents Moses with the tablets of the law. The group of figures on the sound cover is supposed to symbolize the victory of religion over heresy .
literature
- Église Notre-Dame. Fontenay-le-Comte (Vendée) . Church leader, Fontenay-le-Comte o.J.
- Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Vendée . Flohic Éditions, Volume 1, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-118-X , pp. 254-255.
Web links
- Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption . Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux (French text, accessed May 5, 2018)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Notre-Dame in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
Coordinates: 46 ° 28 ′ 2.5 " N , 0 ° 48 ′ 26.3" W.