Saint Paul de Cray Church à Saint-Marcelin-de-Cray en Saône-et-Loire

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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Paul de Cray, located in the hamlet of Cray (Commune of Saint-Marcelin-de-Cray, Saône-et-Loire), is a 12th century Romanesque building. It presents a rare architectural unit, with a nave, a choir, an apse and a bell tower all in Romanesque style. During restorations in the 1980s, murals representing the Apostles and Evangelists were discovered and preserved in the apse.

Classified as a Historical Monument since 19 September 1931, this modest church consists of a nave of three spans, a span under a bell tower and an apse. Its facade has a typical Romanesque decoration: Lombard arches, portal with columns carved of volutes and fruits, and modillons decorated with heads. The two-storey bell tower features lumbar bands and geminied bays.

Inside, the broken cradle vault and the double arches falling on pilasters highlight its Romanesque architecture. Two pieces of furniture are protected: a 13th century copper procession cross and a 15th century wooden statue of Christ. A bell of the 12th or 14th century, of the form "sugar bread", classified in 2021, is also preserved.

The church, dedicated to Saint Paul (represented with a sword, symbol of his martyrdom), falls under the Diocese of Autun and the parish of the Mounts of the Charolais. Formerly an independent commune until 1861, Cray is now a hamlet where this building remains an active Catholic place of worship.

Together with its counterparts in Maltat and Montceaux-l'Étoile, it illustrates the Romanesque heritage of Burgundy of the South, highlighted by the International Center for Romanesque Studies (CIER-Résonance romane) in a leaflet published in 2024.

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