Paris1972-Versailles2003

Again, my road warrior takes me on the roads of my belle France. We have passed by this town many many times always on the run elsewhere, and never stop inside. This was the moment to do it and glad we did. Let me tell you about the Notre Dame Church of Pontorson !! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The city of Pontorson is located in the Manche department 50 in the Normandie region of my belle France, It is located 9 km from Mont-Saint-Michel, 22 km from Avranches, 45 km from Granville, 77 km from Rennes, 90 km from Saint-Lô , 302 km from Versailles ,and 177 km from my current house. There is a train station at Place de la Gare ,never used and do not think will just for info.

The Notre Dame Church took us by surprise for its size and magnificent even if could not get inside at first; there was a wedding going on with all the bells !! Anyway we wll be back only 2h10 from home ,and used to passed by here so many times. Two ogival chapels flank the nave to the north and south. In 1853: at the entrance to the left transept is the lectern with the imperial eagle, in carved and gilded wood. The southern entrance door is decorated in its tympanum with a sculpture whose meaning remains to be discovered to this day. Some historians have seen the fable of Prometheus there? We do not know ! The west facade, flanked by two Romanesque turrets with various sculptures, is unique in Europe, according to archaeologists.

The church is an ancient residence, dedicated to Notre-Dame ,located in Place de l’Eglise. It was built in execution of a wish of Guillaume the Conqueror (William),.by the same builders as the Mont Saint-Michel abbey, the Notre-Dame Church is in a novel style and Gothic transition. A glass window of the choir indicates its reason for being: the happy passage of the Couesnon by the men of Guillaume the Conqueror, in danger of getting bogged down. The building is made up of various styles: pure Romanesque, transitional Romanesque, Gothic from the 13C, and Gothic from the 15C. Briefly, the main construction events on their site tell us that between 1050 and 1120: the choir, the crosses and the bases of the tower were done, From 1120 to 1150: the nave with its half-columns engaged in the walls, its square bays and ribbed vaults to which are attached the western gables and the three portals, In 1220: the primitive altar located at the back of the choir dates from this period, From 1381 to 1418: concerns the Gothic part. The large window of the choir is drilled in order to obtain more light in the church,

Around 1400: the Saint Jean Chapel was built, parallel to the choir, with which it communicates through a Gothic arcade, The magnificent altarpiece that adorns the background is carved in white stone, retraces in 22 compartments the “Passion of Christ and his Resurrection”. At the time of the wars of religion and during the French revolution, a systematic mutilation of all the heads of the characters took place. It was a splendor, judging by the remains that they remain as they are. The people of Pontorson called it the “Altarpiece of the Broken Saints”. In 1627: the Gothic belfry was built, a very Norman “saddle” bell tower, which was not completed until that year.

Around 1700: an 18C wooden Virgin, venerated under the name of Notre Dame (Our Lady), located in the small north chapel, above the altar, also deserves to be noticed. She escaped mutilation for having been crowned with the Phrygian cap by an astute bourgeois of the city, who presented her to the “sans culottes” as Marianne, the venerated personification of the first Republic.  The Notre Dame Church houses a large, very mutilated altarpiece of passion and resurrection of the early 16C, as well as a relief of the ascent of the 16C, on the left of the choir, the Saint-Sauveur Chapel contains a altarpiece of the 15C in white stone, known as broken saints.Around 1400: the Saint Jean Chapel was built, parallel to the choir, with which it communicates through a Gothic arcade, The magnificent altarpiece that adorns the background is carved in white stone, retraces in 22 compartments the “Passion of Christ and his Resurrection”, where all the characters were beheaded during the wars of religion and during the French revolution. The church also houses an eagle lectern made in 1853, Having acquired an organ following the universal exhibition of 1867, the canons of the cathedral of Rennes sold in 1868, the choir organ from the Metropolitan Cathedral Saint-Pierre de Rennes to Notre-Dame de Pontorson: this instrument dating from 1843,

The city of Pontorson on its heritage : https://www.pontorson.eu/patrimoine/

The City of Pontorson cultural heritage site on its history : https://patrimoine.pontorson.eu/pontorson.html#pontorson

The Mont Saint Michel tourist office on Pontorson : https://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en/discover/extend-the-discovery-of-the-bay/the-bay-of-mont-saint-michel-normandy-side/pontorson-and-the-journey-to-the-mills/

There you go folks, another dandy spot in my belle France!  This is Pontorson, really the gateway to Mont Saint Michel, you will love it here, more calm and ambiance of a local town. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Notre Dame Church of Pontorson as I

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