Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The ensemble is remarkable, but it is mainly to its capitals that the abbey church owes its fame today. The crypt, which is in a very good state of conservation, is also freely accessible, which is quite rare in the region. One can guess on the vaults old painted decorations and in particular a swastika. It was classified as a historical monument in 1853.

Church dating for a large part of the 13th century. The western façade is a gable wall pierced by a rectangular portal. The wall is framed by two buttresses and is surmounted by a cross. The south gutter wall runs along the nave, pierced by two bays. Then the chancel, also opened by two bays, is semicircular. This one is slightly lower than the nave and ends in a flat chevet which is a gable wall with no openings. The north wall is lit by a single bay at the level of the nave. The choir and the nave are covered by a gabled roof. A Fry-type bell tower rests on the nave.

Église Saint-Martin in Rinxent was entirely rebuilt during the 19th century in stone from Marquise and Napoleon marble (two varieties of local marble), by the parish priest Father Guche. The work took place from 1860 to 1885.

The parish church of Saint-Martin-de-Ré dates from the 14th century. Ravaged several times by conflicts, it was finally rebuilt more modestly in the 17th and 18th centuries, reusing what remained of the Gothic building. On the first day of 1774, the bell tower collapsed, taking with it part of the vaults. It was then decided to rebuild the building by reversing the orientation of the choir: bell tower to the east, choir now to the west. During the Revolution, the church was temporarily closed to worship.

Church of Saint-Martin à Savy-Berlette, built on a medieval castle mound dominates the landscape, as does the chimney of the old sugar refinery near-by. Certified as early as the 12th century, the building was rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is then that the imposing 5-storey tower is built, crowned by a crenellated terrace with a round path and surmounted by the hooked arrow.

The Church of Saint-Martin is located in Soulières, in the Grand Est region. It has existed as early as the twelfth century but the building, in its current form, is more recent. The chevet and the transept date from the 16th century; the nave and its collaterals from the 17th century. The oldest part is covered with vaults on cross ogives. The flaming moldings of the arches are characteristic of the end of the Gothic period.

The Church of Saint-Martin is located in Thorey, in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. It was built in the 17th century, without a bell tower, on the site of an older 13th century church. Around 1870, the building was remodeled. On the west facade, a small carved portal adorned with columns (one of which is missing) bears a frieze with foliage. Inside there are several classified objects, including a stone statue of St. Eloi from the sixteenth century.

The Church of Saint-Martin is located in Thorigné-d'Anjou, Pays de la Loire region. A Romanesque church, which dates back to the eleventh century, underwent several renovation campaigns in the twelfth, sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Its round and pointed steeple rests on a thirteenth century tower, supported by four buttresses. The choir is covered with a beautiful Gothic ‘Plantagenet’ vault. Inside, one can admire a large curved altarpiece of the eighteenth century.

The Church of Saint-Martin de Vallière in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region was originally built in the 13th century and then rebuilt in the 15th century. It consists of a five bay nave and a choir with a flat chevet. The church has three chapels including the old sepulchral chapel of Villeneuve. On both sides of the church's portal, a granite lion sits with a man and a sarcophagus. Inside, there is a classified organ.

The architect of the building was a Benedictine monk, Dom Jules Mellet, associated with his brother, Henri. Both his names can be found in the design of the pulpit and the capitals. The church of Saint-Martin surprises by its size and the width of its nave. It has some very beautiful neo-Romanesque capitals and a large pulpit for preaching, in the style of 19th century creations. The church remains to this day the most important neo-Romanesque building in Ille-et-Vilaine. This church also has large organs and choir organs.