Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of St. Stephen's, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, is a testimony of Romanesque architecture in Touraine. The nave, erected around 1040, presents walls in small apparatus and a carved frieze of fifteen metopes representing real and fantastic animals, one of the few Toulouse examples of the first Romanesque art. A donation from Geoffroy, Count of Anjou, to the Abbey of Vendôme in 1040 suggests the foundation of a priory on that date, confirmed by architectural details such as the decoration in checker of archvolts.

The choir, rectangular and dated from the 12th century, is connected to the nave by a third-point arcade, although its current vault is modern. The priory, originally linked to Vendôme, was then attached to the pre-demonstrated abbey of Vaas (Sarthe). In the 18th century, the parish priest, a pre-demonstrated canon, managed leases on a farm as a prior. In the 19th century, some modifications were made: a brick vault in the abside (ca. 1868), the enlargement of the choir arch to improve the visibility of the altar, and the addition of a wooden stand.

The West Gable, adorned with the Romanesque frieze, was restored in 1893, and the church cover was redone in 1952. Partially classified as Historical Monuments in 1962 (West Gable), the building preserves medieval elements such as the openings in the middle (West and North Façades) and in broken arch (South Façade), as well as walls in stone. The nave, covered with a wooden panel, contrasts with the brick vaulted choir, illustrating architectural evolutions between the 11th and 19th centuries.

External links