Sunday 28 September 2014

Church on Sunday...St.Martin's, Angles-sur-l'Anglin




When we visited Angles-sur-l'Anglin as part of our 'Patrimoine' outings last Sunday, I was hoping that the normally-locked parish church of Saint Martin would be open - and it proved to be the case! During our many visits to this beautiful village we have often tried the door as we strolled past.So it was a pleasure to finally walk through its side entrance to see what lay in store.



Like most of the parish churches of this department (Vienne) it is built in a Romanesque style and again like many, has survived the ravages of the 'War of religion' the 'Revolution' and in this particular case a lighting strike (17th century). The first mention of a church on the site is in the 11th century but what we see today is mainly 12th century work with a lot of 19th century renovation.. 



The interior of the church is fairly simple in design relying on statues of various saints and the large carved wooden altarpiece to give it some depth of character.


In the centre of the altarpiece is a rather washed out representation of the 'adoration of the Magi' topped by St.Martin and his cloak.


The nave and apse of the church are complimented with two chapels forming the arms of the traditional 'cross' design.





There are some good examples of 19th century stained glass windows



The church has a panelled vaulted ceiling


Where's Joan?...there is a fine example with a missing sword blade.


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