Church of Sainte-Marie, Avrainville
The Sainte Marie d'Avrainville church was built in the 11th and 12th centuries, but except for the entrance gate and bell tower, it was destroyed during the Hundred Years War. Rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries, the church has a nave extended by a semi-circular apse choir ending in two apsidioles and a massive square tower. Recently renovated, the church has become a popular cultural venue, thanks to its excellent acoustics.
About this building
The Sainte Marie d'Avrainville church, built during the 11th and 12th centuries, suffered the horrors of the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453), which left it in ruins except for the entrance gate and the apsidioles and the 13th century bell tower.
Two reconstruction campaigns took place in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, expanding the church to include a nave, two aisles and a rounded chevet, as can be seen on a 1780 pan of the building. However, after the Revolution and the Napoleonic era, the church was reduced to its current form that we see today, with only a nave and a single aisle ending with two apses.
The church, rectangular in shape, has a nave covered with a high paneled vault , built in 1728, which is extended by a choir semicircular apse ending with two apsidioles. The nave is flanked to the west of a rather massive bell-tower square where can be found the chapel of the Virgin. The bell tower, with two apparent floors, has a high bay in a broken arch on each of its four faces. It seems to have been higher than today: we can see that the foothills have been leveled.
The southern wall is has the 12th century entrance gate and two bays. The west gable has two tall windows. At the southwest corner, a turret houses the staircase leading to the attic. The north wall is pierced by three semicircular windows that illuminate the nave laterally. The sacristy is contiguous to the choir on the north side.
Since 2001, many renovations have restored the structure of the church and the majority of stained glass, and thanks to its excellent acoustics, it has become the cultural centre par excellence of the town.
