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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Martin church of Anjouin, located in the Indre department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, is a Catholic building built between the 12th and 16th centuries. It consists of a unique Romanesque nave, extended by a narrower choir and a semicircular apse vaulted in cul-de-four. The ensemble reflects a marked stylistic evolution, with later Gothic restorations, including a chevron frame covering choir and nave.

In Gothic times, the church is embellished with exceptional wall paintings. The walls of the choir house a complete cycle of the Passion (XIVth century), organized chronologically in white quadrilobes on ochre backgrounds, framed with decorative borders. A Christ in Majesty surrounded by the Tetramorph, painted in the 15th century, adorns the abside, while coloured false harpsichords emphasize the architectural joints. These decorations, rare in their state of conservation, testify to the artistic importance of the place.

A seigneurial chapel is attached to the north wall of the choir in the late 15th or early 16th century. It preserves traces of a funeral decor painted in the seventeenth century, adding a later historical stratum. Ranked a historical monument by decree of 10 October 2008, the church now depends on the archdiocese of Bourges and the parish of Chabris, in the dean of Boischaut Nord. Its architecture and paintings make it a major testimony of religious art in Berry.

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