Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Romanesque church of Saint Stephen was inaugurated in 1110 under the reign of Louis VI le Gros. Located on the outskirts of La Guerche-sur-l-l-Aubois (Dear), in the 14th century it became a rallying point for large companies during the Hundred Years War. Ravaged and burned, it was restored in 1464 by Jean de Bar de Baugy, who added two Gothic windows. A new fire, perpetrated by Protestants in the 16th century, damaged the capitals of the cross, then redone.

Under the Terror, the communal archives were burned by order of Louis Pajot, self-proclaimed "King of La Guerche", to honor Joseph Fouché. The bells, which were down to be melted, were partly saved by peasants: two of them would only be raised in 1966 by the Saugrin company. In 1984 a bumblebee was added to the bell tower, and the carillon was restored. The church, replaced as parish in 1860 by Notre-Dame due to the urban expansion linked to the industrial revolution, was classified as Historic Monument in 1962.

The building houses a 16th-century limestone bentier from Apremont, decorated with the four evangelists and the shields of the sons of John IV of Bar, local lord and donor. Its copper bell cock (1590), one of the oldest in France, bears the inscription "IDRS" (Jesus, Deus, Rex & Salvator). The plan in Latin cross, without buttresses, rests on columns and a light vault, with a portal in full hanger and an octagonal dome on tubes.

The association "Friends of the Church of the Gravel" continues its appreciation through guided tours. The monument thus illustrates the religious, political and social upheavals that marked the Berry and the Loire Valley, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.

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