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Origin and history

The Saint-Pierre church, also known as Saint-Pierre-du-Marché, was originally built in 1214 under the impulse of Philippe Auguste, near the old meat cohue (now Place de la Bouffeterie). From this time the sanctuary, the transept and its four imposing pillars supporting the vaults remain today. The building, looted during the Hundred Years War, saw its north nave rebuilt in a pure ogival style, financed in part by the butchers' corporation, whose coat of arms adorns a capital.

In the 16th century, the population growth imposed the addition of a southern collateral nave, a bell tower and a carved portal evoking a triumphal arch. This portal, richly decorated with niches, statuettes and roses, was mutilated by the Huguenots before being restored in 1987. The bell tower, threatened with collapse in 1701, was consolidated and rebuilt identically in 1931. During the Revolution, the church became a Temple of Reason and then a forage warehouse, before its classification at the Historical Monuments in 1921.

Architecturally, the building combines a straight bedside, three parallel naves and a south-facing portal with sculptures (angels, statues, dais). The main nave, covered with a ceiling in the middle of the hanger, houses carved capitals and lamp asses. The quadrangular tower, pierced with curved windows and surmounted by a modern pyramidal arrow, is countered by two pillars rising up to its summit. Successive restorations preserved this testimony of the stylistic evolutions and historical tumults of Loudun.

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