St-Martin (Besse)

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Besse Church, west facade

The Saint-Martin church in Besse has one of the most unusual and oldest portals in the Périgord . The church was recognized as a monument historique in 1912 .

location

The church is located on the outskirts of the circular village center of Besse (Dordogne) .

Architecture and building history

At the time of its founding in the late 11th century, the building was a Benedictine priory church , of which the western parts of the nave and the portal are still preserved; as early as the 12th century, the nave was increased for reasons of defense - one speaks of a defense room. The transept and choir - despite their well-fortified appearance - were not added until the 15th century, when the priory was dissolved and the church was converted into a parish church (with the burial place of the local lords of the castle); The frescoes in the south transept also date from this time.

The roofs of the church are covered with thin stone slabs ( lauzes ), which used to be found in many churches in France, but have now become quite rare due to the high costs of handicrafts and materials.

portal

Church of Besse - archivolts portal

The real treasure of the church is its archivolt portal without a tympanum , which perhaps dates back to the late 11th century. As in many - all later - portals of Poitou , the archivolt arches are decorated with figures: The outer arch shows 2 angels in the middle, carrying Christ's throne and a potentially infinite braided ribbon motif ; the second arch contains a six-winged angel ( seraph ), Adam and Eve before (naked) and after (clothed) the expulsion from Paradise , the deer hunt of St. Eustachius , the Mother of God with her child and the Archangel Michael - equipped with a lance and Shield - in the fight with a dragon lying on the ground ; In the inner arch there is an angel with the Lamb of God ( Agnus Dei ) framed by a crown or horsetail motif , which is very rare in medieval art , which rests on lions.

The capitals of the pillars of the portal vestments are badly weathered, but their style corresponds to the representations of the archivolts.

The archivolt arches are framed by two pillars. The portal zone ends at the top with a figurative console frieze on which a pre-blinded triangular gable with a diamond pattern rests. The reddish stones of the archivolts and the white of the portal surround or the gable stand out nicely in color from the gray stone material of the church building.

Frescoes

The late Gothic fresco remains in the south transept, which were only rediscovered in 1961, show scenes from the Passion of Christ ( flagellation , mockery, Pietà ).

meaning

The altogether rather 'primitive' or 'naive' looking figures of the portal of the church of Besse - unique in the Périgord - are at the beginning of a development that will continue in the northwestern Poitou : St-Pierre d'Aulnay , St-Hilaire de Melle , Prieuré St-Nicolas de Civray , Argenton-les-Vallées .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Martin, Besse in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

literature

Web links

Commons : St-Martin (Besse)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 44 ° 40 ′ 6 ″  N , 1 ° 6 ′ 24 ″  E