The Sainte Maure-Sainte-Britte Church of Sainte Maure de Touraine, part I !!!

Posted in Europe, France

On my road warrior trips was close by and we eat a lot of goat cheese from here so why not pay a visit to the town itself. The visit was nice the food nicer and we will be back to Saint Maure de Touraine!!  The town of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine is in the department of Indre-et-Loire no, 37, in the Centre-Val de Loire region. See my other post for the history part of the town and curiosities of it. Now will tell you about the main sight the Sainte Maure-Sainte-Britte Church of Sainte Maure de Touraine, part I !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The Sainte-Maure-Sainte-Britte Church, in Romanesque and Gothic style, has a crypt dated from the 10-11C, probably an old domicilium that has been redesigned , and whose periods of construction are attributed in the 11-13C, Towards the end of the 19C, in 1891, the original church was destroyed, then rebuilt in 1892, The prioral chapel was built in 1060 at the instigation of Abbot Saint-Mesmin d’Orléans. During the 13C, the church obtained parochial status. Of the original construction, largely demolished, only the intertransept and the north side brace remain.

Ste Maure de Touraine ch st Blaise front feb22

Ste Maure de Touraine ch st Blaise nave to altar feb22

Ste Maure de Touraine ch chapel joan of arc feb22

It would seem that a first sanctuary was built in the 6th century, consecrated by one of the first bishops of Tours, Euphronius. The original building was replaced at the end of the 12C by a church. The central nave would date from the 10C or 11C. It ends in the east with an apse at 5 sides, covered with a 14C vault. The ten similar arcatures which decorate the nave are based on stocky columns, decorated with capitals decorated with primitive sculptures sometimes unfinished or damaged. The current apse at the time of the expansion of the crypt in the 12C (current apse and lateral naves). Without communication with the upper church, the crypt was used until the 19C as a tomb for the lords of Sainte-Maure. Today, it is connected to the church by a double interior staircase and hosts a lapidary deposit.

The bell tower was then central, resting on four massive pillars, reinforced in the 15C, occupied the middle part of a sort of false transept separating two different parts, A first restructuring project in 1860 consisted only in the replacement of the single Romanesque nave, in ruins, by a room with three naves of 3 spans and a front body integrating the new bell tower. In fact, a complete demolition of the Romanesque nave was decided and three naves joined the three naves of the Gothic part (1865). At this stage, the northern Gothic wall kept its drop, and the southern Gothic wall its important deviation. thick bedside wall. The crypt is of great interest in the history of the religious monuments of the Middle Ages. Rediscovering at the end of the 19th century during the reconstruction of the church, it is made up of 3 semicircular vanty naves, which communicate with each other by third-party opening.

The town of Saint Maure de Touraine on its church and chapels : http://www.sainte-maure-de-touraine.fr/editorial.php?id=121

There you go folks, my dandy road warrior trips into new territories of Sainte Maure de Touraine, always surprises ,nice architecture and great history, we love it. We will be back to the region as there is a whole lot more to see around here ,and this road warrior will keep on motoring! Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Sainte Maure-Sainte-Britte Church of Sainte Maure de Touraine, part I !!! 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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