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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Symphorien de Nazelles-Négron, located in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, is a religious building dating back to the 11th century. It was originally built as a unique nave with a choir, under the dependence of the abbey of Marmoutier and the castle of Amboise. This monument, typical of Tourangelle religious architecture, reflects the stylistic evolutions between Romanesque and late Gothic.

In the 12th century, the church was associated with a chaplaincy (or maladry), a rectangular building still keeping Romanesque windows upstairs. This charitable institution, linked to the Hôtel-Dieu d'Amboise from 1698, bears witness to the medieval organization of assistance to the poor and sick. Major transformations took place in the 15th century: the addition of two collaterals, the reconstruction of the vaulted choir adorned with carved caps, and the creation of a seigneurial chapel in the south.

The whole — church, chaplaincy and barn divided into three naves by poles — has been included in the inventory of historical monuments since November 18, 1953. The 15th century barn, with its two lines of poles, illustrates medieval agricultural architecture associated with ecclesiastical domains. Inside the chaplaincy, a cabinet on the first floor preserves traces of painted decorations, a rare vestige of medieval ornamentation.

The location of the building, near Amboise, highlights its anchoring in a territory marked by royal power and the great abbeys. The church, owned by the commune, remains a testimony of the links between seigneuriality, religion and social assistance from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

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