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Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Étienne de Melay, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, finds its origins in the 11th century, although the current building is mostly a 19th century reconstruction. Only the bell tower, dating from the end of the 12th century, remains from the first church. The latter was placed under the alternate protection of the Abbé de Saint-Rigaud de Ligny and the Prior of Anzy-le-Duc, reflecting the close links between the local religious power and the seigneurs of the time.

The first significant enlargement took place between 1696 and 1705, followed in 1733 by major repairs to the bell tower (walls, bows, vaults) financed by Marie Thiard de Bragny, abbess of the Blessed God, and parish priest Bardet. These works illustrate the importance of the church as a place of patronage and patronage aristocratic and clerical. In 1856, the church, which had become too small, was demolished and rebuilt in the nearby cemetery, retaining only its historic bell tower. A new enlargement in 1877-1878 added two spans and moved the large door, requiring the construction of a porch in 1901 under the impulse of Abbé Gauthier.

In the 20th century, the church underwent continuous renovations and restorations: electrification in 1928, repair of the bell tower arrow in 1954, restoration after a fire caused by lightning in 1973, and interior renovation between 2011 and 2012. The stained glass windows, combining 19th-century and modern creations (like those of Sylvie Carayol Renard in 1989), as well as the polychrome plaster statues in Saint Sulpice style, testify to his artistic evolution. The current bells, installed in the nineteenth century, bear the marks of the founders Gideon Morel (1842) and Burnichon (1858), the latter having made a bell of 1,200 kg adorned with an inscription dedicated to its godfather and godmother, members of the local aristocracy.

Architecturally, the church is distinguished by its lack of transept and its nave of seven spans flanked by lower side, extended by a central apse and two lateral apsidioles. The eight capitals of the choir, including five attributed to the Neuilly-en-Donjon workshop, link the building to the Brionnais Romanesque style. Today, the Saint-Étienne church remains an active Catholic place of worship, integrated into the parish of Saint-Hugues-en-Brionnais-Bords-de-Loire, and ranked among the outstanding religious heritages of Saône-et-Loire.

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