St-Gilles (Pons)

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Saint-Gilles Chapel in Pons .

The former Romanesque chapel of Saint-Gilles in Pons in the Charente-Maritime department houses the city's archaeological museum . The medieval structure has been classified as a monument historique since 1879 .

Saint-Gilles Chapel

Patronage

The chapel is dedicated to St. Aegidius , one of the 14 helpers who are venerated in large parts of Western Europe .

location

The two-storey chapel is located in the immediate vicinity of the castle district of the city of Pons; It is therefore assumed that the building once served as a castle chapel and still belonged to the previous building of the Donjon von Pons, which was destroyed by Richard the Lionheart in 1179 .

Building history

The chapel dates back to the late 11th century; the Romanesque portal is seen as a later addition, when medieval stone processing had already made significant progress. The southern outer wall was stabilized in the 15th or 16th century by powerful buttresses with perfectly executed masonry. Stripped of its sacred functions in the course of the French Revolution , the church was reopened as an archaeological museum in 1879 - the design of today's entrance area of ​​the chapel with a triangular gable was probably also made in this context.

architecture

The two-storey building - made of only roughly hewn stones - was probably originally roughly easted, but had no apse . The upper floor is not arched, but only has an open roof structure. The tympanum-free , multi-tiered Romanesque archivolt portal, added to the original building in the late 12th century , lies on the rear side of the building; it was probably the former entrance from the castle side into the vaulted basement of the chapel. The abstract, geometric, non-figurative decorative motifs of the arches are similar to those on the portals of Chadenac , Marignac and Jazennes . The capitals of the pillars of the portal vestments , however, show mythical creatures and vegetable motifs. There is a round window above the portal to illuminate the upper floor. Immediately next to it rises the imposing Renaissance facade of a patrician house that no longer exists (portal with triangular gable, rectangular window with framed fluted columns).

Archaeological Museum: ancient amphora, millstones, roof tiles, etc.

Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum houses a large number of finds in glass showcases from the long Celtic-Santon, Roman-ancient and medieval town history of Pons. Some prehistoric stone tools can also be seen. Two Roman milestones ( bornes milliaires ) are exhibited in the basement, recalling that Pons was once on the Via Agrippa between Bordeaux ( Burtigala ) and Saintes ( Mediolanum Santonum ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chapelle Saint-Gilles, Pons in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Web links

Commons : St-Gilles (Pons)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 34 ′ 43.3 "  N , 0 ° 32 ′ 45.2"  W.