Church of Saint-Martin

The Abbey of Val-Richer was founded around 1146 and its abbey-church was consecrated in 1220. Little transformed thereafter, it underwent some work in the 16th century after having been pillaged twice during the Wars of Religion (1562-1598). Abbot Dominique Georges (1651-1693) is considered the main restorer of the abbey. The French Revolution put an end to the monastic life of the abbey in 1791. In 1836, François Guizot, then Minister of Public Instruction, bought the ruins of Val-Richer and restored them.

The oldest part of the church dates from the 11th century. Two Romanesque windows seem to remain today. The building was rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. To the north two buttresses delimit the western and eastern parts, whereas they are only present on the eastern part to the south. The walls are pierced with rectangular bays, four in the south and at least two in the north. A door provides access to the outside in the eastern southern part. The annex is opened by two rectangular bays. The entire nave is covered by a double-paned roof. A gable roof covers the annex. A bell tower with a square base is stooped on the ridge near the facade. Its spire is hexagonal.

The choir dates back to the 12th century. The northern wall was built in the 16th century, as well as a chapel between the choir and the nave. Other elements of the nave were modified at that time, as well as the construction of the western portal. A large yew tree conceals the gabled entrance façade consisting of two levels. It is pierced by a semi-circular portal supported by buttresses and surmounted by a bay. The bell tower crowns the ridge at the western end of the nave. Square in cross-section, it is pierced with bays fitted with soundproofing and topped with a pavilion spire.