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Church of the Holy Trinity of Autry-Issards dans l'Allier

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine religieux
Eglise romane

Church of the Holy Trinity of Autry-Issards

    Ancienne Cure
    03210 Autry-Issards
Ownership of the municipality
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Église de la Sainte-Trinité dAutry-Issards
Crédit photo : MOSSOT - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1100
1200
1300
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
XIe siècle
Construction of lower parts
XIIe siècle
Modernisation romane
1617
Chapel Saint John
1868
Restoration of the choir
1888
Reconstruction of the vault
14 mars 1927
MH classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Church of the Trinity: Order of 14 March 1927

Key figures

Natalis - Anonymous sculptor Author of the portal (signature *« Natalis me fecit »*).
Jean Roux - Pastor of Autry-Issards (1617) Sponsor of Saint John Chapel.
Jacques II de Dreuille - Local Lord (17th century) Restores the chapel of the Virgin (1687).

Origin and history

The church of the Holy Trinity of Autry-Issards, located in the Allier (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), is a Burgundian-style Romanesque building marked by construction campaigns in the 12th, 14th and 19th centuries. Ranked a historic monument in 1927, it is characterized by a single nave vaulted in a broken cradle, a narrow vaulted choir in the middle of the corner, and an apse in a hemicycle flanked by two apsidioles. Its octagonal bell tower, crowned with a stone arrow, and its carved portal – signed "Natalis me fecit" – bear witness to a rich medieval artistic heritage, mixing ancient influences (Corinthian capitals) and religious symbols (moralising Latin inscriptions).

The origins of the building date back to the 11th century, with the construction of the low parts of the nave in small apparatus, decorated with historic capitals today preserved in southern absidiole. In the 12th century, a major modernization introduced the broken cradle vault, a monumental decoration (canned pilasters, blind arches), and a stone bell tower, while the facade received a richly carved portal. The works, conducted by separate teams, are part of the same architectural movement as the transepts of the Prioral Church of Souvigny. The arrow was resumed in the 13th century, and subsequent modifications (XVIIth–XIXth centuries) partially altered the building: reconstruction of the vaults in 1868 and 1888, suppression of medieval murals, and additions like the chapel Saint John (1617) to support the bell tower.

The church, dependent on the Benedictine priory of Montet-aux-Moines (diocese of Bourges), illustrates the importance of priory-cured in the medieval religious organization. His term of Saint Trinity suggests an ancient foundation, while the inner Latin inscriptions – "penas reddo malis prema dono bonis" ("I punish the wicked, I reward the good") – reflect a didactic and moral dimension. The restorations of the 20th century, although respectful of the Romanesque style, have erased traces of polychromy and painted decorations from the 13th to 14th centuries, known by engravings. Today, the building remains a major testimony of Burgundy Romanesque art in Bourbonnais.

The architectural structure combines defensive elements (large apparatus of the West Gable) and liturgical elements, such as the wall of glory (typical of Romanesque churches), highlighting its role both spiritual and community. Historic capitals, relegated to the southern absidiole during the 12th century reshuffles, and the monolithic columns of the portal reveal exceptional artisanal know-how. The openings in the middle of the hanger, the arches in the blind mitre of the bell tower, and the flat tiles of the abside contrast with the hollow tiles of the nave, showing various constructive techniques. The inscription "cuncta deus feci homo factus cuncta refeci" ("God created everything, and by becoming man, he restored everything") summarizes the medieval theology of Redemption, anchoring the building in its intellectual context.

External links