The Church Saint Etienne of Villandry !!

Posted in Europe, France

And we went back to the valley of the kings and the wonderful castles of my belle France. We have been to them when even visiting France but has taken me many years to be back; this was as good as any time to do this. We first went to the Château de Villandry and then the Château de Langeais! Let’s continue the tour with several posts,and now the Church Saint Etienne of Villandry !! Hope you enjoy it as we!

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As you can read the previous posts, we went for Villandry castle first ,but got in time for lunch and we had ours at the épicerie gourmande. However, just a bit up we saw the church and of course why not include it in this trip. A good idea indeed as the Church Saint Etienne (St Stephens) is worth the detour me think. Let me tell you a bit on it ok

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The Church Saint-Etienne is the church of Villandry and is dedicated to Saint Etienne (Saint Stephens), the first martyr. The first chapel called Saint Roch dates from the 5C , and was destroyed around 1844. It was built halfway up the hill, and more than 300 meters from the castle. It had a rectangular chapel measuring 9 by 18 meters was built in the 11C. At the end of the 12C, the transept and the choir were added. The original chapel then becomes the nave of the new church.

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In the 19C, Stéphanie Oudinot, wife of Baron Georges Tom Hainguerlot, then owner of the Château de Villandry, offered a tribune organ, the stained glass windows of the choir, the altars and two bells. A vast dome 6 meters in diameter is an architectural rarity in Touraine. A large Gothic window was built thanks to Jean le Breton (another Villandry castle owner and first) in 1532. A stained glass window was installed in 1543. It is in this same church that Joachim Carvallo was buried in 1936. He is the last owner and was a doctor and patron of Spanish origin, known for his restoration of the gardens and the Château de Villandry. The current owners of the castle are his descendents. To the right of the front gate, at the entrance, is a small platform, called an ambon, where public announcements were made in the Middle Ages.

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Not much is written on the church, the above is translated from the French wikipedia site. Here is more of the same from the town of Villandry on the church: https://www.villandry.fr/tourisme.html#patrimoine-de-villandry-leglise-saint-etienne

The Catholic parish of the Cher on its churches including in Villandry: https://paroissenotredameducher.fr/les-eglises

There you go folks a wonderful and beautiful Villandry and its church! All about 3 hrs from our home which can be done in a day!! We got the hang of it and will be back for more castles which we love in natural setting with great food and wines of my belle France. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Etienne of Villandry !! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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