St-Hilaire (Melle)

Former priory church of Saint-Hilaire in Melle (Deux-Sèvres)

The church St-Hilaire is a Roman Catholic church in Melle in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France . The former priory church is dedicated to Hilary of Poitiers , who was born in Poitiers around 315 . In the Middle Ages, the church was the city's most important pilgrimage station. As early as 1914, the building was designated as a Monument historique , and in 1998 as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (“ Camino de Santiago in France”).

history

Floor plan, hand sketch

The Benedictine priory of Melle, founded in the 11th century, belonged to the Saint-Jean-d'Angély Abbey, about 50 km away . Like the mother monastery, Melle was located directly on the increasingly developing pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela ( Via Turonensis ), so that the pilgrim gifts flowed abundantly. One must assume that today's church dates from two construction periods: the choir and transept were probably built in the 2nd quarter of the 12th century, the nave was probably built towards the end of the 12th century and has probably replaced a smaller previous building.

Fortunately, the Church remained largely undamaged during the Hundred Years War between England and France, the Huguenot Wars and also during the Revolution .

architecture

Due to the barrel vault , the central nave and side aisles are visually more separated from each other than in other hall churches .

West facade

The facade, which is clearly structured by vertical double services and horizontal cornices, almost disappears into a depression; it shows the typical scheme of the Poitevini building school : In the lower part there are three portals without a tympanum , of which the two lateral ones are only designed as dummy portals. On the floor above, this three-way division is repeated with three window openings, the two on the sides of which are not exactly in the middle of their field, but are moved a little closer to the center. The middle arches are each slightly higher than the side ones, so that there is a double triumphal arch scheme.

At St-Hilaire, the middle part of the facade is evidently more richly designed than the lower, which is not as dominant as usual due to the sunken position of the church. The windows, each with two set columns with rich capitals, are decorated like portals ; the protruding wall corners in between are also decorated. In the unadorned triangular gable field, double services continue that have nowhere a capital. On either side of the gable triangle there are two small turrets with pointed helmets.

The west facade, however, is not the main viewing side, because it is in the shady north, and - certainly due to the unusual location of the church - in the depression on the edge of a small river arm.

North portal

The north side is the actual welcome side with a majestic portal. The windows of the nave wall are also carefully designed and separated by ascending service bundles , as is otherwise only the case indoors. The pillars accompanying the windows carry combatant's blocks, which run like whorls over the service bundles. The concluding eaves rests on consoles that are shaped as heads - so overall an extremely elaborate, three-dimensionally structured front, which suggests a heavy pilgrimage with corresponding donation income for the abbey in the Middle Ages.

The entrance zone is divided into three mighty steps, rich sculptural decorations and not only ornaments decorate the entrance, three set columns with fluted intermediate surfaces form the garment. The inner arch with its stylized acanthus leaves has been reconstructed, but the reliefs of the two outer archivolts , some of which are fully plastic, show personifications of virtues and vices, monthly works and signs of the zodiac, i.e. an extensive program that was later particularly popular with the Gothic cathedrals should be.

At the top, however, there is a clear stylistic break. The lower portal is crowned by a large niche in which there is an almost head-high equestrian statue. According to legend, it was the Count of Lusignan who set out on the crusade. More probable, however, is the interpretation of the group as Emperor Constantine , who victoriously rode down paganism, which is shown in the shape of the small figure below right. Of course, this niche is also beautifully framed with columns and leaf decorations. The somewhat 'limp' posture of the knight, which is noticeable on closer inspection, is not to be blamed on the medieval sculptor, but on the later restorers. The horse is clearly reconstructed and makes a very 'un-Romanesque' impression, especially if you look at the face. On the other hand, the palmette frieze above is very beautiful, connecting larger and smaller leaves in an almost mathematical-abstract form.

In the region there are other equestrian statues, some of which have been badly destroyed, on the facades of St-Pierre d'Aulnay , St-Nicolas in Civray , St-Pierre in Parthenay -le-Vieux and the former abbey church of St-Pierre in Airvault .

inner space

View into the choir apex chapel

Like many churches in southwest France, St-Hilaire is a three-aisled hall church with pointed barrel vaults. The vaults of the central nave and the two side aisles are approximately the same height; the yokes are separated by belt arches. Ridge vaults can be found in the ambulatory. The mighty columns of the choir are composed of large stone drums; the pillars of the central nave are more structured and can be seen as early bundle pillars .

The principle of the choir structure is - according to the region - that of the Poitevinischen building school: crossing tower with transept , ambulatory with adjoining radial chapels as a preliminary stage of the later chapel wreath.

The interior has been cleanly restored and is known for its large capitals , most of which are only decorated with vegetable and braided band ornaments . The most famous capital of St-Hilaire shows a pig hunt - a fairly realistic depiction in which - as in the 19th century - people are hunted with spears and dogs.

The priory church also had an entrance in the south, which once probably led to the cloister and the cloister area, but is now walled up. The arch on the inside of the entrance shows a number of strange animals and abstract ornaments.

In 2011, a modern choir room design - created by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur - was inaugurated, but this does not appeal to all churchgoers and visitors.

Choir head

The choir head, with its multiple vertical staggering of the components, which ends in the towering crossing tower, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in Poitou. The basement consists of five chapels, of which the three in the middle are attached to the ambulatory; the two outer borders with the transept. All chapels are structured on the outside by vertical services and have one, two or even three windows, graded according to their importance.

The crossing tower has a completely unadorned basement. In contrast, the upper part is divided on all four sides by three high arcades, of which the middle ones function as sound openings for the bells, while the sides are only designed as blind arcades. From processing marks in the stone it can be seen that the roof of the inner choir was once higher and steeper.

On the south side, in the corner between the nave and the transept, there is a small stair tower with a round pointed helmet; it enabled access to the roof trusses and the crossing tower.

meaning

The former priory church of St-Hilaire is a consistently richly decorated pilgrimage church. Together with the churches of Notre-Dame-la-Grande in Poitiers (approx. 60 km) and St-Pierre d'Aulnay (approx. 30 km), it is one of the highlights of Romanesque architecture in southwest France.

gallery

Romanesque hall church
St-Hilaire; Capital Sauhatz
St-Hilaire; Overlapping apses
St-Hilaire; Capitals on the main portal

Individual evidence

↑ Église Saint-Hilaire, Melle in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
↑ Melle - new choir design in St-Hilaire (English) Melle - new choir design in St-Hilaire (French)

literature

Thorsten Droste : The Poitou. Western France between Poitiers and Angoulême - the Atlantic coast from the Loire to the Gironde. DuMont Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4456-2 , p. 150ff.
Dorothee Seiler: Saint-Hilaire in Melle and the Romanesque hall churches of Poitou. Tuduv-Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-8316-7489-2 .
WHC Nomination Documentation (PDF, 88.9 MB!), Application documents for the nomination as World Heritage, here: section "Melle, Eglise Saint-Hilaire"