Origin and history
The Saint-Fortunat church, located in Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde in Charente-Maritime, is a parish building dating back to the 11th century. It owes its name to Venance Fortunat, bishop of Poitiers in the seventh century. In 1136, a papal bubble confirmed his donation to the Abbey of Sainte-Gemme, linked to the Chair-God in Auvergne, marking the foundation of a priory attached to the church. Originally, the building, about 18 metres long, consisted of a facade still visible today, a nave of two spans with carved capitals, a pendant dome (residing remains of which remain), and a choir today disappeared. A crypt, serving as a dossuary and dated from the 13th century, is located below the present south side.
In the 15th century, the church underwent a major transformation: the dome was abandoned, the nave was bent, and the forerunner and the choir were rebuilt in a flamboyant Gothic style, with the addition of a flat bedside and a south side. This work ended with the construction of a Renaissance bell tower between 1500 and 1520, 31.50 metres high. The church, looted during the Wars of Religion, keeps traces of bullets on its walls. Under the Old Regime, it was surrounded by a cemetery, partially reserved for Protestants, before it was moved in 1839.
Ranked a historic monument in 1913, the church underwent numerous restorations, notably in 1838 (reconstruction of the vault by the architect Prevost), 1883 (addition of a sacristy), and in the 20th century (roof in 1921, electricity in 1932, stained glass in 1980). Its interior combines Romanesque elements (sided walls of the nave) and Gothic (ogival vaults of the choir), while its western facade, typical of the Saintongeese novel, is distinguished by a portal adorned with 26 heads of horses surrounded by the walrus, symbol still debated. The bell tower illustrates the transition between Gothic and Renaissance, with its octagonal domes and fantastic gargoyles.
The western facade, divided into three registers, presents a rich carved decoration: capitals evoking capital sins (pride, lust), modillons appearing animals and humans, and a frieze of blind arcades. The capitals, though eroded, reveal scenes like Samson and Dalila or Eve driven from heaven. Inside, a dark funeral liter recalls the burials of local lords, including the family of Amblimont in the 18th century. Lossuary, accessible by a hatch, preserves murals imitating a trim and a circular bench.
The modern stained glass windows (XIX-20th centuries) are associated with classified paintings, including La Crucifixion (copy of a Rubens) and L-Assumption, works by the saintly painter Pierre Vincent. The furniture includes a wooden pulpit, a stone bentier, and a 1773 classified bell. In 2003, the structure, damaged by the fall of a bell, was rebuilt into concrete. The church remains a major architectural testimony, synthesizing almost a thousand years of religious and artistic history in Saintonge.
The prioress attached to the church, mentioned from the Middle Ages, was gathered at the seminary of Saints in 1747. The vicinity of the building, released from the cemetery in 1846, became an esplanade after the withdrawal of the linden trees in 1984. Today, the church of Saint-Fortunat embodies both a preserved Romanesque heritage and stylistic evolutions of the 15th and 16th centuries, while bearing the marks of the conflicts and restorations that marked its history.
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