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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Charroux, located in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, is a Catholic religious building dating back to the middle of the 12th century. It consists of a nave of four spans with low sides, two transepts surmounted by a stone bell tower, a choir with a span and a semicircular sanctuary flanked by two apsidioles. The vaults, combining dogive cradles and ridge vaults, as well as the built capitals of the piles, bear witness to its medieval architectural importance. A side chapel and stair turret, added at the end of the 15th century, complete the whole, while ravens of machicolis of the early 16th century recall its role in urban defense.

The bell tower, partially destroyed, has long been mistakenly associated with the damage of the French Revolution. In 2019, the scholar Raymond Bonnal revealed, thanks to a manuscript, that lightning was responsible as early as 1662. The bell tower and its arrow, rebuilt at the end of the 13th century, today preserve only the octagonal floor of the belfry and a section of arrow. The building, classified as a historic monument in 1912, houses a stained glass window of St.Sebastien made by artist Lucien Chatain, illustrating its preserved artistic heritage.

The church, owned by the commune of Charroux, embodies both a place of worship and a symbol of local history. Its architecture combines Romanesque influences (XII century) and Gothic influences (XIV century), reflecting the stylistic evolutions and defensive needs of the region. The machicoulis of the southern transept, vestige of the urban fortifications, underline its integration into the medieval protection system of the city, now disappeared.

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