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Origin and history

The Collège Saint-Martin de Candes-Saint-Martin, located in the west of Indre-et-Loire, replaces a first church founded by Saint Martin in the fourth century, where he died in 397. This site, which became a place of pilgrimage despite the absence of relics, was erected as a collegiate site around 1050, with a chapter of twelve canons. The construction of the present building began around 1175 to replace the ruined Saint-Maurice church and finished in the middle of the 13th century, under the influence of the Gothic style of the West.

The site, marked by interruptions and modifications of the plan, saw the addition of a monumental north porch around 1250, designed as the main entrance for pilgrims. In the 15th century, the church was partially fortified (mâchicoulis, niches, breche) in response to the insecurity of the Hundred Years War, becoming a potential refuge for the population. The Wars of Religion (1562, 1568) severely damaged the monument, destroying statues, archives and liturgical objects like a bust of Louis XI.

Two earthquakes (1711, 1840) caused partial collapses, requiring controversial repair campaigns in the 19th century, criticized for their "vandalic" character. Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the collegiate preserved a complex sculpted decoration, attributed to several workshops, and protected furniture elements ( altar, statues, stained glass). Its architecture, blending late Romanesque and Gothic Angelvin influences, makes it one of the major religious buildings of Touraine, after the Cathedral of Tours.

The site is inseparable from the memory of Saint Martin, whose mortuary house, a place of pilgrimage from the fifth century, would have occupied the site of the present northern chapel. The college, disused as such after the Revolution, remains an active parish church. Its peculiarities include an atypical orientation (north-west/south-east) dictated by topography, and a nave in the shape of a church-hall, inspired by the cathedral of Poitiers.

Recent studies highlight the complexity of its construction chronology, marked by successive repetitions and adaptations linked to topographic or political constraints. The north porch, unfinished, and its carved decoration (statues, capitals, vault keys) reflect various influences, possibly linked to pilgrims. The collegiate church also houses 19th-century stained glass windows and a modern cenotaph of Saint Martin, recalling the translation of his relics towards Tours.

In the 20th century, restorations (1982, 2013-2015) consolidated the building, preparing for the celebrations of the 1700th anniversary of Saint Martin's birth in 2016. Despite the documentary shortcomings, the college remains a major testimony of medieval religious art in the Loire Valley, mixing spiritual, defensive and memorial functions.

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