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Origin and history

The Collège Saint-Denis d'Amboise, located in the department of Indre-et-Loire, is a religious building whose construction begins in the 12th century under the impulse of Hugues I of Amboise, lord of Touraine. It replaces an oratory founded by Martin de Tours in the fourth century, itself erected on an ancient pagan temple. From this first campaign the choir and transept remain, while the nave and its collaterals are added at the end of the 12th century. The church, originally conceived as a Latin cross, sees its sides widened to embrace the width of the transept.

In the 15th century, the bedside was redesigned with the addition of two lateral apsidioles, replacing the original Romanesque apsides. A second southern collateral was built in the 16th century, extending the nave. The bell tower, located on the cross of the transept, collapsed in the 18th century but was rebuilt shortly after. The building, a former collegiate until the French Revolution, became a parish church. Ranked a historic monument in 1968, it preserves flamboyant Gothic elements, such as the bedside bays or the angeline vaults of the nave.

The interior houses carved capitals mixing religious scenes and characters of the Roman de Renart, as well as a 17th century altarpiece in the southern absidiole. A sculpture from La Mise au tombeau, transferred from the Chapel Bon Désir de Montlouis, and a layer said the drowning are also on display. In 1498, the church was the scene of the cancellation of the marriage of Louis XII with Jeanne de France, a landmark event in her history.

Architecturally, the western facade, pierced by a gate in the middle of the hangar, is flanked by massive foothills. The south side, longer than the nave, overflows on this facade, while the north side, divided into three spans, has a similar portal. The cast iron grilles of the choir come from the art foundry of Pocé-sur-Cisse. The church, owned by the commune, remains a major testimony of religious art in Touraine, from medieval origins to Renaissance reshuffles.

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