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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Church of the Twin Saints, located in Colombier (now Curtil-sub-Buffières), replaces a 13th century Gothic church, enlarged in the 16th and 18th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, the medieval building, in ruins, was considered irreparable. The commune then decided on its reconstruction in 1853, entrusting the project to the Vesulian architect Charles Dodelier (1816–82), a specialist in rural religious buildings.

Dodelier offers a neo-gothic economic building, reusing elements of the old church: the base of the bell tower, the pillars and vaults of the 14th century side chapels, transformed into narthex. The orientation is reversed, and the parish enclosure gives way to a public square open to the town hall and the school. The new church, dedicated to the saints Speuysippe, Eleusippe and Meleusippe, adopts a basilical plan with a five-span nave and a sanctuary followed by a sacristy.

The neo-Gothic facade, rhythmized by foothills and bell towers, incorporates a porch decorated with a stone pediment topped by a cross. The slate arrow of Angers, slender, is highlighted by bell towers at the corners of the tower. The architect uses materials simulating Gothic at lower cost, a common practice for rural churches of the time. The building, classified as a Historic Monument in 2017, illustrates the adaptation of medieval styles to the budgetary constraints of the 19th century.

The church is part of a larger urban project, symbolizing the modernization of the village. Its reconstruction coincides with the development of municipal facilities (schools, fountains), reflecting the social and architectural transformations of the French countryside during the Second Empire. The use of ancient elements, combined with stylistic innovations, makes it a rare testimony of the transition between tradition and modernity.

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