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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Pierre-et-Sainte-Radegonde de Bonnes, located in the Charente department, dates mainly from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Its initial architecture, rectangular, is completed by two lateral chapels forming a transept. The bell tower, square and Renaissance style, is joined to the south and connected to the nave by an angle. A 16th-century west portal features a basket-sleeve window and deciduous capitals, with a tympanum decorated with a central niche and side shells.

In the 16th century, the portal and bell tower were added, reflecting the Renaissance influence with carved details such as the volutes of the rose or the columns of the tympanum. Interior modifications took place in the 19th century, notably in 1863 (a plaster ceiling) and 1896 (a sacristy building). The Way of the Cross, erected in 1893, and a wooden awning protecting the court complete the late additions. The building, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1995, illustrates an architectural evolution spanning seven centuries.

Access to the bell tower floors is via a screw staircase located in the southern corner of the nave. The lateral chapels, the sacristy and an annex adjacent to the choir testify to successive modifications to adapt the liturgical space. The monument, a communal property, preserves medieval elements (rectangular structure) and Renaissance (gate, bell tower), while integrating traces of the 19th and 20th century restoration campaigns.

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