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Origin and history

The church Notre-Dame-de-Nantilly de Saumur, located in the department of Maine-et-Loire, is cited from the Carolingian period in a diploma of Charles II le Chauve. In the 11th century, it appeared as an annex to the Abbey of Saint-Florent, mentioned in a papal bubble of 1003 confirming its properties, including the fiscus Lentinicus with its church of St. Mary and its chapels Saint-Hilaire and Saint Vincent. These references are found in Codex Rubeus bubbles in the 12th century.

The present nave, the oldest part, was built around 1120 after the fire of Saumur in 1067, caused by William VIII of Aquitaine. In the Romanesque style, it is distinguished by its ten carved capitals, attributed to a single artist, and its elevation divided into two levels. The north facade, in tuft, retains its original structure, while the foothills reach 4.50 m thick. The nave already prefigures the gothic Angelvin by its severity.

In the 13th century, Pope Urban IV tried in 1263 to remove the church from the monks of Saint-Florent to install two canons, but Clement IV restored the abbey to its rights. The archbishop of Tyre, Gilles de Saumur (died 1266), was buried there in the choir; His tomb, rediscovered in 1614 and 1699, bears witness to its importance. Louis XI later adjusted a southern collateral, piercing the early nave wall to create a baptismal chapel.

The transformations continued in the 14th–15th centuries, with the partial reconstruction of the transept and the choir, marked by nerve vaults inspired by the cathedral of Angers. The capitals, rebuilt in the 19th century, imitate this style. An underground chapel, perhaps mortuary, was transformed into an ossuary between the 17th and 19th centuries. The church also housed an organ of 1690, restored in 2016, and stained glass windows of the 19th to 20th centuries, including those of the workshop Lobin (1862) and Marcel Delon (1903).

The church was classified as a historic monument in 1840 and was restored several times: by Charles Joly-Leterme in 1851, Lucien Magne between 1893 and 1909, and Gabor Mester de Parajd between 1996 and 1998. This work aimed to preserve its Romanesque (nef, absidioles) and Gothic elements (voûts, rosaces), as well as its interior decorations, such as the armored vault keys of the southern collateral, linked to Louis XI and the order of Saint-Michel (1469).

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