The Church Saint Michel of Fontevraud l’Abbaye !!!

Posted in Europe, France

This is Loire river area in the in the Maine et Loire dept 49 of the Pays de la Loire region of my belle France, I visit Fontevraud l’Abbaye ,mainly to visit the abbey (see posts), but left one picture out that should be in my blog, Therefore, here is my take on the Church Saint Michel of Fontevraud l’Abbaye !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The Church Saint Michel became parish with a parish priest named by the abbess among the monks of Saint-Jean de l’Habit. Built around 1170 at the request of the Abbess Audeburge and thanks to the generosity of the King of England, Henri II Plantagenêt, and his wife, Queen Aliénor of Aquitaine. Two heads sculpted in the choir’s vault near a rib, on the right, could well appear as them. It was enlarged in the 15C and then in the 17C. The altar in gilded wood comes from the abbey where it had been erected in 1621. Fontevraud, previously attached to the diocese of Poitiers, is placed under the authority of the bishop of Angers from 1177. This church is part of a corpus of local buildings of the end of the 12C and the beginning of the 13C with Saint-Maurice de Chinon (choir), Saint-Saint Florent de Saumur (Galileo), Saint-Jean de Saumur (capitals). Furniture, but also the sculpted or painted decorations that adorn the church make it one of the most interesting churches to see the productions and artistic influences at the Saumurois.

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The Church Saint-Michel occupies a location which corresponded to the origin at the eastern end of the cemetery of Fontevraud, whose entrance it marked. The first span of the nave has many elements from the end of the 15C or the beginning of the 16C, The high altar was executed in 1621, The keys of vaults, arcs formed and doubly are also decorated with sculptures and polychrome decorations: blessing Christ, angels, characters ,including several kings, etc. Above the sculptures consecrated to the damned of the Last Judgment, right above the sculptures devoted to elected officials of the Last Judgment, A pictorial expression relating to Art Deco, with friezes of stylized dragons and geometric patterns framing a Saint Michael terraging the Dragon, as well as panels evoking the Eucharist (the vine and the harvested wheat, for bread and wine) or victory against evil (the dragon struck down by a cross sword)

The City/Town Hall is a beautiful construction from 1876. It is vis-à-vis the monumental entrance to the royal abbey, on the Place des Plantagenêts. It was built on the site of a hall that the Abbess Louise de Bourbon had installed in 1549. In the 1960s, before its first interior design, a covered market was held there. The 1st floor room is used for weddings and meetings of the municipal council.

The town of Fontevraud l’Abbaye on its heritage : https://fontevraud-abbaye.fr/tourisme-fontevraud/le-village-a-travers-les-ages-fontevraud/

There you go folks, another dandy in my belle France, This one is tops , and a must to visit for the abbey and more, Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Michel of Fontevraud l’Abbaye !!! 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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