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Saint-Étienne de Velles Church dans l'Indre

Indre

Saint-Étienne de Velles Church

    1 Place de Verdun
    36330 Velles

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1200
1300
1400
1500
1800
1900
2000
XIe–XIIe siècles
Foundation of the Priory
1402
Medieval Bell
Années 1860
Neogothic reconstruction
1867
Glass of Lobin
1870
Bell *Euphrasia*
1878
Anonymous glassware
1903
Florence windows
24 décembre 1961
Baptism of Mary Charlotte
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Key figures

Alfred Dauvergne - Architect Reconstructs the church in Gothic Revival style.
Julien-Léopold Lobin - Master glass Author of the 1867 stained glass.
Joseph-Prosper Florence - Glass Artist Created the 1903 windows.
Anne de Montaigu - Donor Offered two tables classified.
Georges Dettviller - Glass Author of the 1945 window.

Origin and history

The church Saint-Étienne de Velles, located in the heart of the village in the Indre department, finds its origins in the early Middle Ages. As early as the 11th and 12th centuries, the parish was erected as a priory under the influence of St.Gildas Abbey. Two side chapels, dedicated to the local aristocratic families De Boisé and De La Faire, housed their graves. These families, influential in the region, marked the medieval history of the place by their presence and religious patronage.

The current building is the result of a total reconstruction carried out in the 1860s by architect Alfred Dauvergne, in a marked neo-Gothic style. The plane adopts a nave with four spans, flanked by two lateral chapels forming a transept, and ends with an apse with five arched sides. This reconstruction incorporated ancient elements, such as 13th century stained glass panels re-used in the 1903 glass windows, reflecting a preserved medieval artistic heritage.

The church windows illustrate several eras and styles. Julien-Léopold Lobin made the window of the bay in 1867, while the Balsan family offered anonymous windows, one of which was dated 1878. Joseph-Prosper Florence, in 1903, created six glass windows for the nave, incorporating 13th-century medallions representing Christian scenes. Later, Georges Dettviller added in 1945 a window dedicated to the apparition of the Virgin to Bernadette, enriching the glass heritage of the building.

The bell tower houses three emblematic bells: a medieval bell dated 1402, a bell of 1870 named Euphrasie, and a more recent one, Marie Charlotte, baptized in 1961. In the choir, two major classified paintings, given by Anne de Montaigu in 1882 and 1886, represent The Martyr of Sainte Solange and The Charity of Sainte Euphrasie, highlighting the link between the church and the local artistic patronage.

Today, the Saint-Étienne church depends on the archdiocese of Bourges and remains a major architectural and historical testimony of the Centre-Val de Loire region. Its mix of styles, combining neo-Gothic and medieval re-uses, as well as its art works, make it a monument representative of the 19th century French religious heritage.

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