We passed by it so many times over the years and even stop on the N175 highway to have lunch several times but never really got into City center until now ! As I think did not give it credit enough to a town I will showcase new pictures of it in my blog for you and me, Do read my other post on the town in my blog, The town of Avranches is located in the Manche dépt 50 in the region of Normandie of my belle France, Therefore, let me tell you on the Church Notre Dame des Champs of Avranches !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Church of Notre Dame des Champs is located on Place Carnot. This vast, cathedral-like church is a Neo-Gothic church dating from the late 19C and early 20C. The church is laid out in the form of a nave with a façade featuring two towers with unfinished spires, a projecting transept, and an ambulatory chancel with an axial chapel (which was never built). The church had been adorned with a set of stained-glass windows signed by Duhamel-Marette, destroyed by bombing in 1944. These included the stained glass windows of the nave and aisles, with the exception of the two windows of Saint Genevieve and Saint Hugh, installed between June 18 and 25, 1876. Sculptors with boundless imagination embellished it with fantastical gargoyles, various animals, and picturesque figures. The towers of were completed between 1926 and 1937. Services resumed in the church in February 1962.
From the old church, the following remain: the old granite lintel bearing the inscription DEMOVI-1677; a small polychrome stone group from the 15C depicting the Nativity of the Virgin; and choir stalls with mastiff-head armrests reminiscent of the earlier 17C stalls, which were moved later. The Revolution in the Church of Saint-Étienne. An 18C lectern in the shape of an eagle. A pulpit surmounted by a canopy with faux draperies, adorned with three polychrome bas-reliefs. The other works date from the late 19C: a Stations of the Cross in enamel on copper; a gilded bronze Virgin and Child above the apse door; a Pietà and a Holy Family; and a litany of statues of saints in Saint-Germain stone. Two imposing holy water fonts, shaped like giant tridacna shells, are also noteworthy.
A bit of history I like tell us that the former parish church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs was located, as its name suggests, outside the town This church, of great simplicity, is known thanks to a photograph and a few engravings. It had been, along with its cemetery, founded at the end of the 12C or the beginning of the 13C; it was not until April 12, 1863, that the first stone was laid; aid, long requested, was finally granted only in 1876, and the consecration of the new church took place on November 13, 1892.
The town of Avranches on other heritage: https://www.avranches.fr/listes/visiter/
The Manche dept 50 tourist office on Avranches : https://www.attitude-manche.fr/decouvrir/mont-saint-michel-normandie/avranches/
The Mont Saint Michel tourist office on Avranches : https://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en/discover/extend-the-discovery-of-the-bay/the-bay-of-mont-saint-michel-normandy-side/avranches-its-treasure-and-the-scriptorial/
There you go folks, now I feel better given credit to this nice Norman town on the road between my beautiful Morbihan and my dear former Versailles. A wonderful stop for all, we are glad to get to know it a bit better now. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Church Notre Dame des Champs of Avranches !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 