St-Paul (Reilhac)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Saint-Paul church from the south

The Saint-Paul church in Reilhac is the northernmost church in the Périgord . It was recognized as a Monument historique on September 8, 1965 .

location

The Saint-Paul church is located in the village of Reilhac, part of the commune of Champniers-et-Reilhac, part of the canton of Périgord Vert Nontronnais . It is located in the far north of the Dordogne department , at the northern exit of Reilhac, directly on the left side of the D 110 from Champniers to Maisonnais-sur-Tardoire in the Haute-Vienne department . It was built on slightly sloping terrain to the northwest.

Architecture and building history

The Romanesque building , erected in the second half of the 12th century , still has its original structural elements, but its barrel vault collapsed and has therefore been lost. The simple roof structure ( hipped roof ) can now be seen from the interior. The rectangular nave faces east-southeast and is closed off at the east end by a semicircular apse . The entrance to the church is on the south side. The entrance portal consists of five rounded arches and enables access to the three-bay church building. The innermost rounded arch, decorated with knobs, rests on corbels, the second is continuous and the three outer arches are based on capitals that have since been heavily eroded . The curves do not form a perfect semicircle, but rather taper towards a pointed arch. The rectangular choir is surmounted by a square church tower that sits on top of a massif barlong . The choir is covered by a dome, which is supported by triangular pillars in the four corners. Daylight penetrates into it through narrow slit windows from the sides and through the central apse window. The apse is adorned outside by four blind arches. On three sides of the church tower (with the exception of the west side) there is also a decorative blind arch structure with three blind arches each, but some of these were not completely executed.

Before the French Revolution, the parish of Reilhac was under the diocese of Limoges . The architectural style of Saint-Paul is typical of the Limousin and Haut-Périgord. In contrast to other comparable surrounding parish churches of the time, the church was not restored or expanded during the 15th century and retained its original plan and character. Structural changes were made after the barrel vault collapsed on the side walls, which were bricked up. The sacristy on the north side is unfortunately in a ruinous state of construction.

  • apse
  • Entrance portal
  • Nave
  • Steeple
  • Capitals at the entrance portal
  • West side
  • Baptismal font

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Paul de Reilhac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Web links

Commons : St-Paul (Reilhac)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 41 ′ 9 ″  N , 0 ° 41 ′ 44 ″  E