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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Vivian de Breuillet, located in the Charente-Maritime department, is a 12th-century parish church, emblematic of the Romanesque art of Saintonge. Slightly out of the city centre, it preserves a cemetery with medieval sarcophagi near the south wall. Its classification as historical monuments dates from May 9, 1914, after a first proposal in 1909. The facade, typical of the Saintongeese novel, includes a gate in the middle of the hangar decorated with geometrical motifs, topped by a remodeled campanile in the 19th century.

The first written mention of the church dates back to a charter of 1186. Damaged during the Hundred Years' War, she lost her transept and bedside, some of which remains in the wall of the presbytery. In the 15th century, massive foothills were added to strengthen the structure, one of which bears the weapons of the Richelieu, later engraved. In 1767, the building was restored and enlarged: the campanile was rebuilt with local donations, and a bell melted in 1761. This bell, classified in 1946, cracked in 1978.

On 14 July 1790, the church welcomed a Te Deum followed by the federal oath, where parishioners swore fidelity "to the Law, the King and the Nation". The nave, divided into four arched spans in the middle of the hanger, preserves capitals carved with foliage and hooks. The flat bedside, blind, is illuminated by ebrased berries. Traces of the northern Gothic crusillon and the primitive bedside remain visible in the masonry of the presbytery.

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