Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Ouen de Monteille, located in the integrated village of Mézidon Vallée d'Auge since 2017, dates mainly from the twelfth century. Its openings, redesigned in the 15th century, then adopted the flamboyant style. The original wooden porch was replaced in the 18th century by a tower, while the building retained Romanesque elements, such as carved modillons and a wooden vaulted nave.

The church was listed as a Historic Monument in 1933. It has benefited from a recent restoration (2005-2013), financed by the municipality, a local association, the Heritage Foundation, and departmental grants. The work, with a total cost of € 200 000, focused on drainage, sanitation and restoration of furniture.

The architecture of the church is distinguished by a nave and a choir of the same width, a tower with an octagonal pyramidal roof, and a wooden vault "of great elegance". The building houses 19th-century statues, a representation of Saint Ouen of the 15th century, and an 18th-century high altar decorated with an Ascension painting. The painted caissons of the vault and the lateral altars, one of which represents the Annunciation, complete this ensemble.

Arcisse de Caumont, in his monumental Statistique du Calvados (1867), highlights the harmony of the proportions of the church and the quality of its Romanesque elements. He also mentions a funerary liter on the wooden porch, which is now gone, and criticises a plaster vault project, which he describes as "an act of vandalism".

External links