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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Benoît de Villiers-Saint-Benoît, located in the department of Yonne in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, finds its origins in the tenth century with the foundation of its parish by the monks of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire. The present building, built mainly in the 13th century, has a sober architecture, marked by subsequent changes: the bell tower was redone in 1740, and the tiled floor in 1850, masking old funeral slabs. Although its overall decor remains modest, the church houses an exceptional artistic treasure: 15th century murals, discovered in 1902 during works. These paintings, classified as historical monuments as early as 1909, illustrate one of the three dead and the three alive, a medieval moralistic theme on the vanity of life and inevitable death.

The frescoes of Saint-Benoît represent an emblematic scene: three young knights, symbols of youth and wealth, are arrested in a cemetery by three dead reminding them of the brevity of existence. On the right, two children kneeling before St Benedict, patron saint of the church, underline the importance of the salvation of the soul. The iconographic details combine macabre signs (sudden cadavres, fossil tools) and symbols of worldly life (pairs, horses, hunting dogs), all dominated by a cross, recalling the phrase: "What you are we have been, what we are you will become". These frescoes, rare examples preserved in situ, bear witness to the influence of the Reports of Morality appeared in France around 1403, themselves inspired by poems such as that of Baudouin de Condé (c. 1280).

The church, which was listed as a historical monument in 1997, underwent minor modifications in the 18th and 19th centuries, but its medieval essence and painted decoration remain its major assets. Owned by the municipality of Villiers-Saint-Benoît (code Insee 89472), it is located 5 Place de l'Eglise, in a rural setting characteristic of the Yonne. Its state of conservation and its location (estimated passable cartographic precision) make it a place both heritage and educational, illustrating religious art and the mentality of the late Middle Ages in Burgundy.

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