St-Pierre (Airvault)

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St-Pierre d'Airvault - facade

The former abbey church of St-Pierre d'Airvault stands in the center of the small town of Airvault in the Deux-Sèvres department ( Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ) in southwest France . The church together with the remains of the former abbey building was classified as a monument historique in 1914 .

Building history

Despite some ambiguities regarding the date and construction sequence, it is assumed that today's church was built in two phases in the 12th century. First, the new choir was erected east of the previous building and closed with a temporary facade; After the completion of the choir, it served as a sacred space and work began on building over and demolishing the old church. Finally, or at the same time, the narthex and facade were added.

architecture

facade

Despite various revisions from the 19th century, the Poitevinian character of the - in parts slightly asymmetrical - west facade can still be recognized. What should be emphasized are the two-storey elevation - vertically structured by raised services - the undivided gable field with side turrets and a simple bell gable , the - common in Poitou - the absence of tympana, the depiction of the 24 elders of the Apocalypse in the archivolts of the central portal and the pathetic remnant of a rider in the upper left blind arcade. Similar medieval equestrian representations - mostly in an equally desolate condition - can be found in churches in the area: St-Hilaire de Melle , St-Pierre d'Aulnay , St-Pierre in Parthenay -le-Vieux and St-Nicolas in Civray .

St Pierre - Romanesque portal in the narthex

Narthex

After going through the main portal and a few steps down, you find yourself in a narthex with a richly decorated Romanesque portal, which is unusual for Poitou . The lack of the tympanum is compensated for by the rich abstract ornamentation of the archivolt arches ; the pillars of the portal vestment have beautiful capitals with vegetable and figurative motifs. The anteroom, divided into six bays, is only about 4 m high; its ground plan and elevation are repeated in the gallery above .

church

The interior of Saint-Pierre is a three-aisled basilica with a transept and a raised central nave. While the Romanesque barrel vaults with belt ribs have been preserved in the side aisles, the central nave and choir vaults were renewed in Gothic style in the 13th century. The raised central nave - which is unusual in Poitou - and its new ribbed vault led both sides of the upper aisle to drift apart , which is why iron tie rods had to be drawn in. The console figures at the upper end of the half-column templates in the central nave are to be emphasized and almost unique. In addition to vegetable and braided ribbon motifs, there are a significant number of capitals with figural motifs in the choir (Fall of Man, monthly work, etc.) as well as in the nave (Last Supper, horse procession, fighting knights, etc.). The keystones of the vault, which seem rather primitive for Gothic sculptures, also deserve attention.

Sarcophagus of the first abbot Pierre de Saine-Fontaine

Furnishing

Also worth seeing is the stone sarcophagus of the first abbot of Airvault, Pierre de Saine-Fontaine († 1110), carried by kneeling atlases on the shoulders, in a wall niche in the north arm of the transept; its front shows nine standing and haloed figures - their interpretation (apostles, saints, monks or even pilgrims) is unclear.

A stone slab from the 11th or 12th century found in 1888, which most likely served as an altar antependium , is also exhibited in the north arm of the transept; it shows Christ as Pantocrator in an almost diamond-shaped mandorla surrounded by the evangelist symbols and four apostles.

Choir head

From the outside, the choir head with its three radial chapels and two transept chapels is very elegant and uniform. The curved - almost baroque-looking - connection of the three radial chapels is remarkable; this results in large and high external niches. All chapels are vertically structured by services; the window frames are mostly unadorned.

photos

  • St-Pierre - floor plan with narthex

  • St-Pierre - outside portal with 24 elders and a mandorla

  • St Pierre - Gothic ribbed vault with keystones

  • St Pierre - Keystone, Creation of Eve

  • St Pierre - capital, fighting knights and console figures

  • St Pierre - capital, fighting knights

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Abbaye, Airvault in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

literature

  • Thorsten Droste : The Poitou. Western France between Poitiers and Angoulême - the Atlantic coast from the Loire to the Gironde. DuMont, Cologne 1999, pp. 104f, ISBN 3-7701-4456-2

Web links

Commons : St-Pierre (Airvault)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 46 ° 49 ′ 36.5 ″  N , 0 ° 8 ′ 16.5 ″  W.