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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church Saint-Bénigne de Savigny-en-Terre-Plaine, located in the department of Yonne, was built at the limit of the 12th and 13th centuries near a fountain dedicated to Saint Bénigne, a place of pilgrimage. Its architecture combines Romanesque elements (the 12th century portail in the middle of the hangar, tympanum, square apse) and Gothic elements (the arched nave in an ogival cradle, 15th century tower-clocher). The local limestone, with red-brown tones, gives the building a characteristic hue.

In the 15th century, the church underwent changes: enlargement of the bell tower bays, piercing of a side door, and addition of a chapel (current sacristy). The bell tower, topped by an octagonal arrow covered with shingles, dominates the transept. Inside, a tombage in bas-relief (XVIth century, retouched in the 19th century) and the polychrome tomb statues of François de La Madelaine and his wife (IIth quarter of the 17th century) bear witness to his rich heritage.

The right arm of the transept, formerly the seigneurial chapel of the Ragny, was redesigned in the 17th century to accommodate these statues, representing the Marquis de Ragny (arms company of Henry IV) and his wife. The wooden porch, probably added at that time, precedes the entrance. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1908, the church thus combines medieval heritage and additions of Modern Times.

Local materials, such as grey limestone and brown red limestone, are typical of the region's constructions. The nave, vaulted in a broken cradle, contrasts with the choir with arches of warheads. The flat bedside and various blankets (stone, shingles, tiles) illustrate the successive adaptations. Today, the night lights of the bell tower make the building visible several kilometres away.

François de La Madelaine (1543–26), Marquis de Ragny, stood out during the Wars of Religion in the royalist camp. Henri IV raised his lands as a reward. The statues, restored in the 19th century by Abbé Breuillard, local parish priest, symbolize the church's anchoring in the seigneurial and religious history of Burgundy.

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