Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Saint-Avit Church, located in the former commune of Autheuil (now integrated with Cloyes-les-Trois-Rivières), dates mainly from the 12th and 16th centuries. Its nave, of Romanesque architecture, dates from the 12th century, while significant changes took place in the 13th and 16th centuries. The building was historically dependent on Saint-Lomer Abbey in Blois, highlighting its medieval religious anchor.

The church gate, characteristic of the first Renaissance, is a landmark of the monument. Flanched with pilasters and surmounted by composite capitals, it precedes a box built in the 18th century. This portal was specifically protected by a Registration Order under the Historic Monuments on June 13, 1989, recognizing its heritage value.

Autheuil, where the church is located, was an independent commune until 2017, when it merged with Cloyes-sur-le-Loir and others to form Cloyes-les-Trois-Rivières. The Autheuil toponym, attested as early as 1100 in the form Autol, evokes a "high clearing" in the language of oil, perhaps reflecting the wooded environment of the region in medieval times.

The church, owned by the commune, embodies both the Romanesque heritage and subsequent architectural developments. Its inscription as a Historical Monument in 1989 aims to preserve this testimony of the artistic and religious transformations that occurred between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Eure-et-Loir.

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