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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Aignan de Poilly-sur-Serein, located in the department of Yonne, is a Catholic religious building built between 1465 and 1537 under the impulse of the lords of Tonnerre and Poilly, the Husson family. It replaces an older church, mentioned in 1189 as a dependency of the abbey Saint-Michel de Tonnerre. The present building, dedicated to Saint-Aignan, takes on the term of the destroyed church of Saint-Aignan de Tonnerre, highlighting a historical link with this neighbouring town.

The church's architecture blends flamboyant Gothic elements with Renaissance influences, especially visible in capitals decorated with motifs such as a sagittarius and an angelot. The elongated plan, with a three-sided apse bedside, and the presence of a bell tower with a northern chapel, reflect the stylistic evolutions of the late Middle Ages. Historic stained glass windows and arches of warheads, whose veins rest on carved caps, bear witness to remarkable craftsmanship.

Two construction campaigns mark its history: the first, between 1465 and 1537, for the most part of the building, and a second in the middle of the sixteenth century, adding the facade and the Renaissance-style bow-buttons. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1910, the church benefited from major restorations in 1885 by the brothers Victor and Jean Farcy, including the disappearance of the old porch. Sarcophagi exhumed in the vicinity recall the earlier religious occupation of the site.

The square arrow of the bell tower, covered with shingles, and flat or mechanical roofs illustrate the traditional materials of the region. The windows in the middle and the flamboyant reamped bays, although partially remodeled in the 19th century, retain their original character. The building, owned by the commune, dominates the village and remains a major architectural testimony of the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Burgundy.

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