Church of Saint-Nicolas
The church of Saint Nicolas, located in Moncontour, in New Aquitaine, was built in the 12th century according to a Latin cross plan. The Romanesque style building is listed as an historic monument and has a long single nave and a transept. You can admire a stained glass signed Fournier representing Saint-Nicolas, patron of the church and very beautiful frescoes.
About this building
The church of Saint-Nicolas is located in Moncontour, New Aquitaine, and was first mentioned in 1179, as the seat of a priory that was dependent on the abbey of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. The building was built in the Romanesque style in the 12th century in the Latin cross shape. It has a nave of six bays, a salient transept with oriented chapels and a deep apse, enlightened with large window. The choir consists of two straight bays with a slightly broken cradle and a vaulted hemicycle apse.
In the late seventeenth or early eighteenth, a heavy bell tower was crowned with a short sharp steeple on the base of the old north transept arm, destroying a northern absidiole. In the nineteenth century, hidden arches cradle nave and transept arms under a capped lattice. Given the narrowness and regularity of the carved stones that build the arches of the windows and the arching of doors it seems certain that the church was largely rebuilt after the twelfth century.
The church has been listed as a Historical Monument since 1985. Above the west gate, you can admire a stained glass window signed by Fournier, that represents Saint-Nicolas, the patron saint of the church. The interior of the building is decorated with carved modillions on the chevat and murals with floral and cross or chevron decorations.
