St-Saturnin (Saint-Saturnin)
The Romanesque parish church of St-Saturnin (or Notre-Dame de Saint-Saturnin ) is located in the French commune of Saint-Saturnin in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region , arrondissement Clermont-Ferrand in the department of Puy-de-Dôme , in the mountain forests of Massif de la Madeleine, dominating the Monne gorge , where the Veyre valley joins. It is built on the crest of a volcanic mountain ledge that was once formed by lava flow from the Puy de la Vache and the Puy de Lassolas .
St-Saturnin is one of the six “main churches” of the Romanesque Auvergne building school in the basse Auvergne (Limagne), a landscape around the city of Clermont-Ferrand . These are the churches (in order of size): St-Saturnin , Saint-Nectaire , Notre-Dame d'Orcival , Notre-Dame-du-Port de Clermont-Ferrand , Mozac and Saint-Austremoine d'Issoire . The “mother church” of this style is the pre-Romanesque cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand, which had to give way to a new Gothic building. These churches show numerous similarities with one another that one might assume that they were created by the same master builder.
St-Saturnin is the smallest of the above-mentioned main churches and, despite its lack of radial chapels, has the characteristic features of an Auvergnatian pyramid, in which a massive barlong is integrated. Nor does it have a narthex . The church was the only Romanesque house of worship in Auvergne to survive the French Revolution almost undamaged. In all other churches, at least the towers have fallen victim to the revolutionary rage against everything clerical. Only a few decades later, the restorers were able to use the St-Saturnin bell tower as a model for their reconstructions, which were not always successful.
The church is probably attributed to the patronage of Saint Saturninus of Toulouse , but it is also found in literature as the Church of Our Lady ( Notre Dame in French ).
history
Saint Saturninus of Toulouse (French: Sernin) was probably sent by Pope Fabianus on a mission to Languedoc and Gascony and was appointed the first bishop of Toulouse . Around 250 Saturninus is said to have been dragged to death by a wild bull on the steps of the Capitolium in Toulouse, according to another tradition he is said to have died in the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius in Rome by being dragged to death by a bull. His story of suffering was written in rhythmic prose in the 5th century , it was widespread throughout the Visigoth Empire . Since the Carolingian era , numerous legendary expansions have been added to his vita .
The cult of Saturninus is documented as early as the 3rd century. Bishop Hilarius of Toulouse had a wooden oratory built over his grave in the then necropolis of Toulouse on the road to Cahors in the second half of the 4th century . Already in the 5th century the veneration is attested in Spain, from the 6th century in the whole of Gaul . The great basilica of Toulouse was built from 1080 above his grave by the bishops Silvius and Exuperius as St-Saturnin-du-Taur (= bull).
No detailed and documented sources are known about the dating of the building of the church. De Resi claims in his Church History of the Auvergne from 1855 (Volume II, p. 249) that St. Odilon of Mercœur , Abbot of Cluny (994-1048), founded a monastery in Saint-Saturnin around 1040 , but does not bring any Proof.
The pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain began towards the end of the 11th century . Its greatest heyday took place in the first half of the 12th century, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims moved south every year. The Way of St. James in France was formed from four main routes, accompanied by a network of numerous secondary routes. Numerous new churches, monasteries, hospices, hostels and cemeteries were built along these paths, and existing facilities were expanded to meet the new requirements. For a pilgrim church, above all, large areas of movement were needed for the numerous pilgrims , such as the ambulatory and side aisles , galleries, and as many chapels as possible for the presentation of relics and their veneration.
As with the other main churches of the basse Auvergne , the strong development of pilgrimages to Spain and the income hoped for from them was the reason for the building of such a pilgrimage church in Saint-Saturnin, which is on an important secondary route between the main routes Via Lemovicensis and Via Podiensis which, starting from Nevers , opened up the whole of Auvergne and continued south.
St-Saturnin was likely built in a single construction period in the second quarter of the 12th century, and perhaps completed shortly before 1150. The fact that such a church could be built in this remote place at that time would support the above assumption that Benedictine monks had already had a monastery there for almost a hundred years. You may have used the Chapelle Ste-Madelaine , the oldest building in the square, which has been preserved opposite the choir head , as their priory church. The little garden next to the chapel was originally the local cemetery, which probably also belonged to the monastery. In the sacristy of the church, a relic from the chapter house of the priory is kept, a triplet arch resting on double columns. According to the style of the capitals, the fragment should be older than the current church. Another indication of the early existence of a priory.
In 1157, Stephan VI transferred. de Mercœr , the Bishop of Clermont (1151–1169), the cathedral chapter a tithe , which it should raise from the church in Saint-Saturnin . However, this is relatively uncertain and does not contain any clues about the time the church was built. One can only infer from this the assumption that the church was built in 1157.
However, it is documented that the Benedictines of Issoire maintained a priory there in 1284 , which was under them until the revolution.
When the quarrels between France and England over Aquitaine began after the middle of the 12th century , the pilgrimage declined. The later wars of the 13th and 15th centuries Century, such as the Hundred Years War (1339-1453), brought a dramatic slump and led to the almost complete cessation of the pilgrims to Spain. Accordingly, after the completion of its pilgrimage church , the chapter of St-Saturnin could no longer participate in the donations received from pilgrims. All that remained for him was the regional pilgrimages.
The market town of Saint-Saturnin and its monastery were surrounded by defensive walls in the Middle Ages and were under the protection of the lords of the castle fortress, which rises on the ridge at about the same level as the church, not far from it. The fortress was built in the 13th century, but has remained almost intact to this day. She belonged to one of the most respected noble families in France, the La Tour d'Auvergne . From this line emerged, among others, the Queen Catherine de Medici - a La Tour on the mother's side - and a century later the famous Marshal der Turenne .
Not least because of this protection, the priory church with its convent buildings survived at least 700 years, with almost no major changes until the end of the 18th century.
But it also escaped the destruction of the Revolution (1789 and subsequent years) because a gentleman named Verdier de Pagnat bought both the church and the neighboring Ste-Madeleine chapel in good time. After the riots he gave the buildings back. Only the stone spire had been torn.
There is only a brief indication of the location, extent and whereabouts of the convent buildings that there were remains of the monastery on the south side of the church. However, these are not publicly accessible. Presumably, however, they were largely destroyed and removed during the wars of religion (1562–1598) and / or the revolution. A small gate in the southern arm of the transept indicates that the convent building was formerly attached to this side of the church.
Aimon-Gilbert Mallay (1805–1883) renewed the stone spire in 1852, largely authentically. A comprehensive restoration of the building took place between 1880 and 1898.
Building
Dimensions approx (taken from the floor plan and extrapolated)
- Overall length outside (without pillar templates): 34.40 m
- Overall width of the transept outside (without pillar templates): 23.20 m
- Outside width of the nave (without pillar templates): 13.20 m
- Outer nave length (without pillar templates): 18.10 m
- Outside transept width (without pillar templates): 7.00 m
- Inside width of the nave: 12.60 m
- Inside length of the nave: 17.30 m
- Width of side aisles including partition: 3.00 m
- Inside transept length: 21.20 m
- Choir depth including handling: 8.30 m
- Central nave height at the apex: 15.00 m
- Dome height at the top: 18.90 m
The masonry of the church building consists mainly of light arkose (sandstone) from Montpeyroux (Puy-de-Dôme) . Inside, almost all of the capitals are carved from gray volcanic rock, which is comparable to the trachyte of Saint-Nectaire (Puy-de-Dôme) . Occasionally, especially on the wedge arches of blind arcades , light arcs have been used alternating with almost black volcanic rock.
The church does not have the same layout as the rest of the main churches in the basse Auvergne , that is, a three-aisled, four-bay nave , an expansive transept with a massive barlong and an ambulatory choir . However, it has no narthex and no wreath chapels , which is extremely unusual. The only example that can be cited from the region is the church of Ste-Croix de Veauce .
Outward appearance
Longhouse
The nave is covered by a 30 degree pitched roof without height offset, which is covered with gray slate shingles. The rainwater drips off the eaves without gutters. The eaves cornice panels , with grooved and beveled visible edges, rest on closely spaced planed chipboard bricks , the vertical fronts of which are clearly elevated and end with the outer edge of the cornice panels.
The facade is simple. Its upper ends, which are covered with slightly cantilevered stone slabs, clearly protrude above the roof surfaces and mark the separation of the ships through slight height offsets. As an extension of the inner partition walls between the naves, there are right-angled buttresses , which end a little below the verges and are sloping outwards on the top. Only two centered openings are cut out in the facade wall, namely the round arched main portal and a round arched slender window in the middle. The portal is closed by a double-leaf wooden door hinged on the inside, which is clad with artistically designed wrought-iron fittings. The wall surfaces are made of ashlar ashlars in a light arcose up to the level of the wedge stone arch apex of the portal . The buttresses and on both sides of them the approaches of the adjoining walls are made of the same material, made of individual cuboids in alternating widths. The side edges of the facade and the window opening are also made of these stones, each with two to four stone widths. The wedge arch of the portal is made of the same sandstone, that of the window is made of alternating light and almost black stone. The other wall surfaces between the building stones are made of small-sized dark basalt quarry stones at regular loose association brick and light grouted. Every now and then, individual light and dark large-format stones are interspersed in these areas.
The longitudinal walls , on the other hand, are more elaborately designed. They have a two-storey structure that corresponds in height to the interior. The large round-arched, slightly stilted blind arcades on the lower floor correspond to the internal structure in four bays . They are separated by rectangular buttresses. Their arch approaches are marked by fighter profiles . In the arcade niche of the third yoke on the north side, a round arched portal is cut out. In the top half of each of the other three arcade niches, a slender, arched window is cut out. On the south side, this applies to all four arcade niches.
On the upper floor, exactly the width of the lower blind arcades, four triple blind arcades are embedded, consisting of three interconnected wedge arches, which stand on four pillars, which are equipped with carved capitals , profiled fighters and bases . The bases stand on setbacks from the wall that lie just above the apex of the lower wedge arches. The arcade arches are covered by cantilever profiles with a simple roller frieze, which is continued at the height of the transom profiles over the dividing wall pillars. A short distance above, a roof-like bent piece of this profile is inserted, which connects the outer arches with one another.
These "gable arches" are understood as the signature of the builder of this church. You can also find them on the massif barlong and the Vierungsturm . The cantilever profile with roller frieze described above is relatively rare in the church of St-Saturnin , compared to the other main churches, that is, only on the north side of the church. The French specialist author Bernhard Craplet suggests that this church is the youngest of the main churches. In the middle niches of the triple arcades there is a small round arched window. A short distance above the apex of the wedge arches are the lower edges of the corbels of the eaves cornice, which closes off the longitudinal walls.
The components protruding from the niche backgrounds are essentially made of light-colored sandstone blocks. This also applies to sections of the niche backgrounds, all opening edges and most of the wedge arches. The wedge arches of the two triple arcades near the transept show alternating light and black wedge stones. This also applies to some of the arches in the windows.
Transept with massive barlong and crossing tower
The transept arms protrude from the adjoining nave with a length of about five meters without any pillars. They are covered with pitched roofs at the slope of that of the nave, which also take over the height of the eaves. The visible edge of the eaves cornice is bevelled. They rest on planed chipboard bricks, the front sides of which have the usual height and end with the edge of the slab bevel.
The side gable wall ends protrude from the east and west side walls of the transept like buttresses and reach up to just above the eaves. Rectangular buttresses protrude from the gable walls as an extension of the side walls, the sloping sides of which remain a short distance below the heights of the eaves. The sloping ends on the top protrude a little beyond the roof surfaces and are covered with slightly cantilevered stone slabs, the visible edges of which are profiled. Your ridge is crowned with wide-spread " paw crosses ", the center of which forms a small circular ring. A second larger circular ring connects the fan arms of the cross with one another. A round-arched, slender window is cut out about halfway up the gable wall. Its wedge arch made of light and black ashlar is covered by a cantilever profile that swings outwards horizontally at the height of the arches and extends up to the buttresses.
Only on the north gable wall of the transept is there a further architectural decoration in the upper area. A triple-blend arcade as you know it on the north wall of the nave. The arch approaches are exactly at the level of a line that separates the triangular gable field from the rest of the gable wall surface. This line is marked by the well-known cantilever profile with a simple roller frieze that also covers the wedge arches. The underside of the arcade niches is again a wall recess, the visible edge of which is decorated with a simple cantilever profile that extends up to the buttresses.
The stone materials roughly correspond to those of the nave sides: larger cohesive light sandstone surfaces are loosened up with occasionally interspersed black stone. On the south gable wall of the transept, instead of dark basalt masonry, lightly plastered surfaces are used, for example in the color of the sandstone.
The apses of the transept chapels protrude on the east side of the transept arms. The ridge of its roofs, covered with gray stone slabs, in the form of a gently sloping half cone, is roughly level with the eaves of the ambulatory . The eaves consist of eaves cornice panels whose vertical visible edges are decorated with a chessboard frieze . They are supported by chipboard bricks, which are occasionally decorated with animal heads on the north apse. The apse curvature is divided into three sections by two semicircular services. The pillars stand with profiled bases on a protruding base, the edge of which is marked with a rounded profile. They support the eaves cornice with simply carved capitals and profiled fighters. In the center of the middle field there is a small round arched window with sharp edges. The masonry, the pillars and the eaves cornice are predominantly made of light arkose, while the wood-chip crags are mostly made of darker stone material.
Round-arched windows are cut out above the transept chapels, the height and dimension of the windows in the gable walls of the transept. They are also decorated with cantilever profiles, as there. Another lower window is at the same height above the roof of the southern ambulatory.
In the corner between the southern arm of the transept and the nave there is an angular stair tower, in which a spiral staircase leads to the southern stand of the nave and, further up, to the attic rooms and the staircase to the bell tower. In addition to the stair tower, there is a small wicket door in the west wall of the transept arm. That was probably once a connection to the once adjoining convent buildings.
The massive barlong , which supports the bell tower and contains the crossing dome with the side elevations of the side aisle extensions, begins at the level of the transept eaves and ends just below the upper edge of the tower base. Its east and west walls are flush with the corresponding transept walls. Its south and north walls protrude upwards over the imaginary extension of the outer walls of the nave. The parts of the massive barlong that surround the tower at the sides are covered by pent roofs, the eaves of which are designed like those of the transept. The tops of the east and west walls protrude slightly beyond these monopitch roofs and are accordingly sloping sideways.
Around the middle of its height, a chain of triplet and individual blind arcades, for example in the form of those on the sides of the nave, surrounds the massive barlong . On the east side there is a central triple arcade, each flanked by a single arcade, separated and closed on the outside by wall pillars. In the middle and the outer arcades there is a small round arched window. The wedge stone arches of the arcades are covered by simple cantilever profiles, which swing outwards at the level of the arches and extend to the edge of the building element. On the underside, the arcades are bounded by a similar profile that runs around the entire massif barlong . On this side, two round-arched deep niches are recessed above the blind arcades, which are connected to one another with the same cantilever profile at the height of their “parapet”. There is a small stone gargoyle between the niches , which drains rainwater that has penetrated through the sound arcades from the bell chamber. On the north and south sides there is a triple blend arcade, which is designed like the one on the east side. Here the middle arcade niche is broken through by a window. There are no more arcades on the west side, as this side is largely covered by the roof of the nave.
On the east side of the massif barlong and the transept, the component edges, pillar templates , arches and various sub-areas are made of light-colored Arkose stone. The remaining areas are not faced with dark basalt stones, but have been provided with a rough plaster, for example in the color of the sandstones.
The octagonal two-storey crossing and bell tower is one of the few authentic Romanesque bell towers in the Auvergne that escaped the ravages of the revolution. It rises above an octagonal base, which is almost completely covered by the massive barlong and only protrudes a short distance from it. It transfers the tower loads to the edges of the almost circular trumpet dome and from there to the square crossing. It is closed on the top with a projecting cantilever cornice.
The eight sides of the lower tower storey recede slightly compared to those of the tower base. A twin arcade opening is recessed on each side, which begins on the cantilever profile of the base. Their wedge arches stand together in the middle on a pair of pillars, which are equipped with simply carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases. The outer arches mark profiled warriors over sharp reveal edges. The wedge arches are covered by profiled cantilever profiles, which swing outwards horizontally at the height of the arches and are led to the octagonal edges. Above these horizontal sections of the profile there are again the “gable arches”, as they can also be found in the triple arcades of the nave walls. Above the tips of these “gable arches”, the lower storey is closed off by a projecting cantilever cornice.
The walls of the upper tower storey, which is barely higher, recede again slightly. On the edges of the tower there are three-quarters of a round, slender columns, which with their capitals reach under the eaves. The twin arcade openings are slightly lower than those on the floor below, their wedge arches stand together on a pillar with the same equipment as on the lower floor. The arches are also marked as there. The decoration with cantilever profiles is missing on this floor. The eaves consist of sturdy cornice plates supported by chipboard bricks.
A stone spire rises on this cornice, in the form of an octagonal pyramid with flat sides. On top it is crowned by a ball and a graceful metal cross with a ring, like a Celtic cross , around which a weather vane rotates.
The bell chamber is accessible via the roof of the nave, from which a staircase leads upwards in a housing on the west side of the tower.
Choir head
The choir head leans against the transept and forms a unit with it. The structures merge according to the principle of ascending compositions, which is called the Auvergnatian pyramid here . A deviation from the gradation used in the other main churches, however, is the absence of the crown chapels. Only the two small transept chapels form the lowest level here.
Exactly between the two cross Hauskapellen the cross house closes to the east wall ambulatory at whose two first straight portions, which correspond in extension of the side aisles of the single choir bay. This is followed by the rounded part of the gallery, on the ground plan of a half circular ring that surrounds the significantly higher choir apse. They leave out any decorations. The eaves are a little above the height of the roof of the transept chapels, the eaves formation of which is taken over when handling. It is covered over its entire length v by a flat sloping monopitch roof, which is covered with gray stone slabs in a radial arrangement. The outer wall of the gallery is divided into two straight and five curved and slightly smaller sections by rectangular buttresses, which, with their outwardly sloping tops, reach up under the corbels of the eaves. They stand on a broad base, which is taken over from the transept chapels in shape and height. In it three arched windows of the crypt are left open. In each of the five curved wall sections, a large, arched window with sharp reveal edges is let into the upper half of the wall. The two buttresses between the straight and the rounded wall sections extend a little over the eaves and bend inward there to merge into a wall, the top of which is parallel to the roof surface up to the choir wall.
The wall and its pillars are entirely made of large-format ashlar blocks made of arkose . Only in this wall are there a number of square holes for supporting scaffolding beams. The plinth and about half a meter of the wall base were originally just as light. The rainwater that drips freely from the eaves has turned these areas dark gray over the years.
The upper part of the high choir , which is richly decorated opposite the ambulatory, protrudes from the monopitch roof of the gallery . Its eaves remain just below the eaves of the transept arms. It stands on a floor plan that is composed of an elongated rectangle, the choir yoke, and a semicircle, the choir apse, attached to its long side. Here, too, there are two straight wall sections and one semicircular one. They are separated from one another by buttresses; The roof consists of a flat sloping gable roof and a half-conical roof. These are separated by a wall protruding over the roof surfaces, the upper sides of which run parallel to the roof surfaces and which merge into the side buttresses. The straight eaves sections of the choir bay are slightly higher than the rounded eaves of the apse. The roof covering corresponds to that of the other roofs of the choir head. The same applies to the eaves training.
In the curved apse wall, directly above the monopitch roof ridge of the gallery, three round-arched windows are cut out, one in the central axis, the other two not far from the buttresses. Your wedge arches are covered by a cantilever profile that swings horizontally outwards at the level of the arches and is led to the next window or over the buttresses to the transept wall. A short distance above the outer apex of the wedge arches, a similar cantilever profile runs horizontally around the entire apse. Between the upper and lower horizontal cantilever profile, a niche in the form of a lying rectangle is embedded between the overlapping of the windows, the side edges of which are marked by a cantilever profile. In each of these niches there are three columns, one in the middle and the other two on the edges, which are equipped with carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases. This motif is borrowed from Roman antiquity . It can be found not only in the other main churches in Auvergne, but also in the Chambon-sur-Lac cemetery chapel .
Between the upper cantilever profile and the corbels under the eaves cornice is a frieze of incrustations made of black and white mosaic plates, in the form of circular disks with eight-pointed rosettes . Their origins are by no means oriental, but Gallo-Roman or early Christian . Such incrustations can be found in almost all main churches, such as, for example, to a larger extent in the collegiate church Notre-Dame-du-Port de Clermont-Ferrand .
On the two flat side walls of the choir bay, between the cantilever profile and the corbels of the eaves cornice, there is a triple blind arcade, as is known from the gable wall of the northern transept, but smaller.
The stone material of the choir is made of light arcose throughout , only on the north side the arches of the triple arcade are made of alternating light and dark stones. The buttresses between the choir bay and the apse are darker weathered, like those of the gallery.
Interior
The masonry inside the building consists of stone-faced ashlars, which are largely made of the Arkose , which is already known from the outside . This also applies to services, pillars, keystones and others. All vaults are roughly plastered, as are some parts of the walls. The originally light stone and plaster surfaces have a dark "patina" that comes from long-term candle lighting. Most of the capitals are carved from darker stone material.
Longhouse
The nave stands on a rectangular floor plan and is divided transversely into four bays. It has a pseudo - basilica three-aisled elevation without any direct windowing through the upper storey . Instead, real grandstands are arranged above the aisles , which with their little windows hardly help to illuminate the central nave.
Instead of the usual narthex with a gallery, the first yoke is weakly separated from the rest by an arcade made of a belt arch on semicircular old services with carved capitals and profiled warriors. The central nave is covered in this yoke with a separate barrel vault that continues in the other three yokes without interrupting the belt. The transitions between the partition walls between the naves and the vault are made without any caesuras.
The strong partitions stand on round arched, slightly stilted arcade arches , which are supported by square pillar cores with semicircular old services predominantly blinded on three sides, which are equipped with carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases on angular plinths . This does not apply to the first two pillars, which also have the services mentioned above on the central nave side. Another exception is the second northern pillar. It also has a fourth service, which, however, ends approximately at the level of the apex of the dividing wall galleries without a capital and is attached off-center on the pillar side. In other of the main churches there are also such pillars without load, but on both sides of the nave. There they are interpreted as carrying a cross-stretched wooden beam from which a wheel chandelier with candles can be hung. The first arcade arches stand on the west wall on flat pillars in the width of the partition walls, which have the same services as those of the other arcades in front of them.
The side aisles are covered by groin vaults , whose gussets on the central nave merge into the arcade arches of the partition walls without a break. On the outer walls, opposite the pillars, there are flat wall pillars the width of the pillar cores, on which services of the same size and equipment are displayed. On top of them stand high, stilted, round belt arches that subdivide the vaulted fields of the yokes. The ridges of the vaults rise stilted from the corners of the fighters of the partition arcades, cross the vault field diagonally and end on the outer wall just next to the next fighters. In the outer walls of the aisles, a round arched window is cut out in the upper area of each yoke, the walls and parapets of which are greatly expanded inward. An exception to this is in the northern third yoke, where a round-arched side portal is embedded.
The parapet of the triple arcade openings, which open onto the grandstands on the second floor of yokes two to four, is located a good meter above the apex of the partition arcades. They are about as wide as the large partition arcades below. They are covered by three wedge-shaped arches, each of which stands together on a column with a carved capital and a profiled fighter and base. The outer arches stand on profiled transom plates, which are led over the wide pillars as a frieze.
The grandstands are covered by half barrel vaults, which act like a continuous buttress opposite the barrel vault of the central nave and transfer the lateral thrust forces into the outer walls. The grandstand vaults are divided into yokes with walls in which round-arched passages are cut out. The southern grandstand can be reached via a spiral staircase from the southern arm of the transept. In the outer walls of the grandstands, a small arched window is cut out in each yoke, which can hardly contribute to the lighting of the central nave.
The two stands are connected to one another on the western gable wall via a narrow footbridge, which is underpinned by two wedge arches, which rest on a cantilever bracket in the middle of the nave. On the ship side in front of this pier, an organ rises up on a kind of balcony. In the middle there is a circular opening that lets the light from the window behind it through. As an extension of the triple arcades in the partition walls, a round-arched opening is cut out in the yoke at the same height. The central main portal in the facade wall is covered on the inside by a wooden vestibule.
The east wall of the central nave consists of a high arcade opening with a semicircular, slightly stilted, sharp-edged arch, which stands on semicircular old services, which are equipped with carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases on angular plinths . The fighters lie approximately at the level of the parapets of the triplet arcades. The arcade arch is one of the candle arches of the massif barlong (see under transept). The wall standing on it up to the central nave vault is pierced by a twin arcade opening, the wedge-shaped arches of which stand on a column with a carved capital, a profiled spur and a base. The east ends of the aisles are closed by the same arcades that correspond to those of the yoke divisions.
north aisle to the rear
spudl. Aisle to the rear
north aisle to the front
two leaf capitals
Transept, massive barlong and crossing dome
The square crossing is surrounded at its corners by four pillars, which in the lower area correspond to those of the nave pillars, with the same square pillar core, but with semicircular services on all four sides. The services of the crossing arcades correspond in dimension and height to those described in the previous section. They carry four candle arches that open into the central nave and the transept via three twin arcades, as described above. There is also a central, arched window on the eastern crossing wall at the same height, allowing direct daylight to penetrate. Here you are already in the massif barlong , which continues to the north and south sides and upwards.
A short piece above the twin arcades, trumpets are inserted in the four corners of the room , which have the task of converting the square outline of the room into an octagonal outline above, with four longer sides above the crossing walls alternating with four shorter sides above the corners of the square . The trumpets essentially consist of semicircular wedge arches that are rotated by 45 degrees and inserted into the corners of the room. Their arch ends stand on short warriors, the corners of which protrude briefly from the walls. The niches behind the arches are covered in the manner of semi-dome domes. Above the arches, the short wall sides, which are flush with the surface, extend to just above the outer wedge stone arch apex, just as high as the long wall sides. The dome hides the rising walls of the octagonal tower base on the same side, which stand alternately on the crossing walls and the trumpet arches with the domes. It also hides the balance between the unequal and equilateral octagonal outlines. Shortly below the arches of the trumpets, triangular panels with profiled visible edges are integrated around the corner, the actual task of which architectural historians have no clear idea. It is pretty clear that they have no load-transferring tasks. What remains is a purely decorative insert or the attachment as a support for the temporary use of beams, to support the formwork of the arches, domes and perhaps also the dome.
The walls are closed on the top by a strong, profiled cantilevered cornice, which tries to transform the unequal-sided octagon into a circular shape of the dome edge. However, this is not entirely successful. The cornice panels, which are rounded in the floor plan, protrude from the middle of the wall, starting at zero, then continuously to the corners of the octagon. The circular ring is only approximately reached. The pendentive domes used in other churches usually achieve the perfect circular shape and thus a higher degree of elegance. The hemispherical dome vault begins above the cantilevered cornice, with a circular opening in the apex, which is framed by a wreath of wedge stones. The opening is used for vertical transport of bells, building materials and tools.
Characteristic of the Auvergnatic massif barlong are the two lateral parts of the room, which extend over the extension of the side aisles over the entire width of the transept up to the height of the dome and are covered there by half barrel vaults. These parts of the room are enclosed by walls that stand on arched arcades that open to the crossing, to the transept arms, the side aisles and stands of the nave. The twin arcades known from the crossing and round-arched single windows with sharp reveal edges are recessed in the walls on the east, south and north sides.
Viewed from below, one looks into a mighty “housing” of the massif barlong floating freely above the empty space , into which daylight streams in through the windows and illuminates it wonderfully.
The arches of the arcades to the transept arms stand exceptionally on right-angled wall pillars, the arches of which are marked by transept profiles. The semicircular vaults of the transept arms are slightly higher than the aforementioned arcade arches.
In the east walls of the transept arms, round-arched chapel apses open up, on the floor plan from a short rectangle, which is followed by a semicircle. The walls merge into half domes and short barrel sections without a break. The chapels are each illuminated by a round-arched window that is centered in the apse, the walls of which are widened inward. The vertical edges of the drapery are set back in setbacks in which columns with capitals, fighters, bases and plinths are set.
In the gable walls of the transept arms, a round arched window with inwardly flared walls and parapets is cut out above half the wall height. In the east walls of the transept arms above the chapels, windows of the same type are set in at the same height. There is another similar window above the arcade opening to the north ambulatory, but it is missing on the north side.
In the south arm of the transept there is a door to the spiral staircase on the west side, which opens up the upper rooms. A second door in this wall opened once to the convent buildings attached to it.
Choir head with ambulatory
The choir head opens out of the transept with the large crossing arcade , also known as the triumphal arch , flanked by two significantly lower arcades that correspond to the yoke-dividing arcades in the side aisles. The floor of the choir head is four steps higher than that of the transept and nave.
The chancel is on a floor plan in the form of a transversely stretched rectangle, the choir bay, to which almost a semicircle, the apse , adjoins. The center of the apse curvature is not here on the long side of the rectangle, which is also the bowstring of the apse, but is shifted almost a meter in the direction of the crossing. The choir is divided into two floors, the lower one encloses an arcade gallery, the upper one a wall zone, which is completely closed in the choir bay, in the apse has three windows in a five-arched blind arch.
The choir vault consists of a barrel vault and half a dome. Choir bay and apse are separated from each other by a surface offset of the walls and vaults. The apse is a few centimeters lower and narrower than the choir bay. The yoke walls merge into the vault without a caesura.
The arcade gallery consists of two broad arched arcades under the straight wall sections of the choir bay and five slender arched arcades under the rounded apse walls. By correspondingly stilting the slender arcade arches, all seven come to the same apex height. Two wedge arches each stand together on a slender column, which is equipped with roughly structured leaf capitals, profiled spars and bases. The almost square transom plates are aligned radially to the center of the apse curvature. The arches of the two large arcades stand on the choir-side services of the crossing pillars. The masonry above the apse gallery closes a layer of wall in the area of the windows over the outer apex of the wedge arches, which at the same time forms the lower edge of the steeply sloping window parapets. Between the windows there are two layers of wall, above which the wall sections clearly recede in order to form the background of the dazzle.
Its wedge stone arches are flush with the surface of the masonry under the blind arches, two of which stand together on a small column. They are equipped with carved capitals, wide protruding profiled fighters and profiled bases. The window reveals merge with the wedge-shaped arches at the top, and on the sides they end with the strut plates of the pillars. Immediately on the wedge arches the arching of the dome begins.
The parlor choir dispenses with a chapel wreath. It begins at the two entrance arcades with straight sections that are continued in the form of a circular ring section (not a complete semicircle). The outer wall, which is rounded in plan, is divided into five sections in a radial arrangement, opposite the pillars of the choir apse, with semicircular old services, which are similar to those of the choir pillars and are arranged at the same height. The whole hallway is covered by a network of groin vaults, the inner gussets of which merge into the reveals of the arcade arches of the choir apse. The ridges rise up stilted at the corners of the fighters and cross the vaulted fields diagonally with an elegant curve.
Shortly below the outer vaults in the spaces between the services round-arched windows are cut out, the walls of which are slightly widened inward and the parapets are steeply sloping. The lateral edges of the walls are broken up into wall recesses that continue horizontally below the edge of the parapet slope. In these recesses there are pillars that support the inner wedge arches of the windows. They are equipped with carved capitals, profiled fighter plates and bases with plinths.
crypt
The crypt has roughly the same floor plan as the choir head above. The column position was supplemented with four additional columns under the choir apse to take over heavy loads from the ceiling under the sanctuary. The relatively small room height makes the columns appear compact. They are equipped with massive fighter plates and some with disc-shaped bases. From the edges of the fighters rise the ridges of a network of groin vaults. On the west side there are three deep niches called the Martyrion . They were used to store relics and their containers and were certainly once locked with iron grille doors. In the upper area of the niches you can see under the steps that lead up to the chancel. In their risers there are some decoratively shaped holes through which the believers could make visual contact when the crypt was closed to worship the exhibits that were illuminated by candlelight. The openings are also called fenestella . Stairs lead up to the transept on either side of the niches.
On the altar there is a Pietà with the disciple Johannes and Maria Magdalena . In one of the niches mentioned above, a glass container holds the head of Christ with a crown of thorns from the 15th century.
Crypt, altar w. Pieta
Pieta
Crypt, head of Christ
Crypt columns
Chapelle Ste-Madeleine
The small Romanesque chapel Ste-Madeleine is located at the northern end of the former cemetery, which today extends as a garden around the head of the church. It rises above the edge of a steep slope sloping to the east and a former fortification wall. The entrance gate to the garden next to the south corner of the chapel bears an inscription on its lintel that freely translates as: “We were like you. One day you will be like us. Remember. 1668 "
Outward appearance
The chapel faces northeast instead of east. It should be older than the church. With a length of around nine meters, it is relatively small. Nevertheless, elements of monumental architecture are used in it. Similar to the design of the long sides of the church, two large blind arcades structure the north-west side of the chapel, which are separated by three wall pillars and flanked on the outside and whose arches are marked by transom profiles. On the southeast side facing the cemetery, two rectangular wall sections are separated and flanked by wall pillars. The rectangular nave is covered by a thirty degree pitched gable roof, which is covered with gray slate shingles that protrude slightly at the verges and eaves. The eaves, similar to that of the church, consist of cornice panels with profiled exposed edges, which are supported by chipboard bricks. On the southwest gable wall, a former rectangular window opening has been bricked up in the upper half of the wall. The entrance portal in the western blind arcade on the north-west side was originally flanked by columns, of which only the weathered bases and striker plates have been preserved. It has no tympanum , but is decorated by archivolts with round bars with palmettes . The entrance stairs are three-step. A narrow wicket door was let into the east wall section on the southeast side, as a direct connection to the cemetery. In front of the door, which is now walled up, there are still stone blocks that served as stairs.
The choir apse, which is semicircular in plan, was probably used in the 14th century as a defensive tower for the fortifications of the village, which has resulted in the bell tower with its twin arcade openings being largely intact. The upper part of the choir and the capitals of two supporting columns were removed due to the addition of the tower, crowned by five large battlements on the rounded side. One of the capitals was reused in the northwestern battlement of the fortified tower.
The outer walls of the chapel and its apse tower are essentially made of black basalt rubble in an irregular bond. Component and opening edges, wall pillars, wedge arches, door decorations and the eaves cornice consist of partly heavily weathered stone made of light arkose .
Interior
The interior consists of a simple rectangular ship, which is covered by a barrel vault. The choir is preceded by a tiny yoke, the girdle arches of which stand on semicircular services with badly damaged capitals. In the apse of the apse there is a small round arched window, which is framed by a blind arcade. It is covered by a half-dome cap.
literature
- Ulrich Rosenbaum: Auvergne and Massif Central. 4th edition. DuMont, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-7701-1111-7 , pp. 91-92.
- Bernard Craplet: Romanesque Auvergne. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1992, ISBN 3-429-01463-8 , pp. 131-138.
Web links
- Ministère de la culture Dedication of the church
- The Church of St-Saturnin in photos , art-roman.net
- saint-saturnin.com , village website , French texts and images
- St-Saturnin , lieuxsacres.canalblog.com, photos u. French texts
- Saint-Saturnin on the website of the Archdiocese of Clermont
Individual evidence
- ↑ From time to time the patronage of the Church of Saint-André is ascribed. However, this is not the case, see monument entry Ministère de la culture
Coordinates: 45 ° 39 ′ 36.5 ″ N , 3 ° 5 ′ 36.5 ″ E