Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-André of Angoulême, located in the Charente department, is one of the oldest churches in the city, mentioned in 1020 in a charter of Count William II. Although no remains of this first church remain, its reconstruction in the 12th century marks the beginning of a modest building, adjacent to the palace of Counts Taillefer. This sanctuary, deeply marked by conflicts, suffered major damage during the Hundred Years' War (15th century), requiring modernization with the addition of lower sides and chapels.

In the 16th century, the wars of Religion ravaged the church: in 1568, the Protestant troops of Coligny destroyed its vaults, with the exception of that under the bell tower. The restoration spread over a century, with masonry works signed in 1653 by architect Jean Ancelin and parish priest Jean Thomas des Bertonnières. The Romanesque vaults of the nave were raised only in 1668, illustrating the slow pace of repairs. The style of the vaults, inspired by Plantagenet art, reflects the architectural influences of the era.

The 19th century brought a radical transformation with the construction of a neo-classical facade in 1825 by Paul Abadie, an architect known for his ancient inspiration. This facade, adorned with pilasters, ionic capitals and statues of St Andrew and St Paul, contrasts with the Romanesque forerunner of the 12th century, marked by its arches and vaults in the middle of the hangar. The bell tower, 35 metres high, houses a carillon whose bumblebee of 1550 was once used to alert the population.

Inside the church houses remarkable Baroque furniture, including a altarpiece of 1669 made by François and Mathurin Cazier, classified as a historical monument. This altarpiece, decorated with torso columns and sculptures, represents the Virgin, Saint John and Saint Andrew. The pulpit, the masterpiece of Jacques Rogier (1692), illustrates the symbols of the evangelists and the apostles. A collection of paintings from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, as well as relics of St.Andre, complete this artistic heritage.

The heteroclite architecture of Saint Andrew, blending Romanesque, flamboyant Gothic and neo-classical, bears witness to his turbulent history. The missing chapels, such as that of the Houlier or Corliot, recall the successive transformations of the building. Close by, a supposed 12th-century lantern of the dead – perhaps a fireplace from the 19th-century Taillefer Palace – adds a historical riddle to the site.

Classified as a historical monument since 1951, the Church of St Andrew embodies almost a thousand years of religious and architectural history, reflecting the political, artistic and social upheavals of Angoulême, from the medieval period to the Industrial Revolution.

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