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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-André d'Ifs Church, located in the Calvados department in Normandy, is a Catholic building dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. It is distinguished by its bell tower and southern façade, including a side gate decorated with symbolic motifs such as chevrons and carved heads. These architectural elements, typical of the transitions between the Romanesque and ogival styles, were partially classified as Historic Monuments in 1921 for the gate, then in 1946 for the bell tower and facade. The building was historically owned by Saint-Étienne de Caen Abbey, as evidenced by a written confirmation dated 1170.

The choir, probably built in the 13th century, underwent major transformations: a reconstruction in Romanesque style in 1878, followed by restorations after the destructions of 1944. Inside, the 17th-century wooden pulpit (1685), commissioned by Abbé Droulin and a Kenyan bourgeois, François Hachet, presents six carved panels representing Christ, Saint Peter and the evangelists. The Romanesque nave preserves a semicircular side door to yousures, vestige of an ancient porch, while the south tower combines Romanesque (arcature) and ogival (th century windows).

The baptismal fonts, dated from the 13th century, and a later added north side complete the whole. The majority of the tithes in the parish were paid to St Stephen's Abbey, with the exception of a portion allocated to Fontenay Abbey. The church thus illustrates the close links between local communities and Norman religious institutions in the Middle Ages, while bearing the marks of later changes, especially after the Second World War.

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