Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The collegiate Saint-Martin d'Angers, located in the historic centre of the city, is one of the few well preserved Carolingian monuments in France. Its origins date back to the 5th century, with a first church probably dedicated to St.Martin, enlarged in the 6th and 7th centuries. Archaeological excavations revealed Merovingian remains, including burials and a crypt that housed the foundations of primitive buildings. Bishop Loup, in the seventh century, would have supervised an ambitious reconstruction, giving the church a cruciform plan with transept and apses.

In the 10th century, the church was rebuilt with arches alternating tuffeau stone and brick, framing the cross of the transept. In the 11th century, under the leadership of the Count of Anjou Foulques Nerra and his wife Hildegarde, the building became a collegiate in 1012-1029, with the institution of 13 canons. Foulques Nerra finances a dome above the crossover of the transept, still visible today. This work marks the beginning of its transformation into an emblematic monument of medieval Anjou.

The Gothic period, from the 12th century onwards, saw the Carolingian choir replaced by a Gothic choir "angelvin" or "plantagenet", characterized by curved vaults. A second enlargement campaign added a span and an apse, while the chapel of the Angels, decorated with frescoes (remaining remains like the Virgin and the Child Jesus), was transformed in the 13th century. These changes illustrate the stylistic evolution and artistic richness of the era.

In the 15th century, King René, Duke of Anjou, financed the beautification of the collegiate church: elevation of the walls of the transept, laying of panelling painted with the duke's weapons, and decoration of walls in imitation of cut stones. His interventions, including heaters (ducal emblems), reflect his patronage and attachment to Angers. The college then becomes a symbol of ducal power and local piety.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the canon chapter was abolished, and the church, sold to private individuals, served as a warehouse and then as a wood store. In the 19th century, the nave collapsed, the bell tower was partially destroyed, and buildings were built in front of the facade. Saved in extremis, the eastern part was bought in 1986 by the department of Maine-et-Loire for a symbolic franc. After twenty years of restoration, it reopened as a cultural space in 2006, home to Angeline statues and archaeological remains.

Ranked a historic monument in 1928, the collegiate Saint Martin today bears witness to fifteen centuries of history, from the first Merovingian basilicas to Gothic and Renaissance transformations. Its hybrid architecture, combining Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic elements, makes it a unique site to understand the evolution of religious heritage in Anjou.

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