Sunday 23 September 2012

Church on Sunday...Azay-le-Rideau





The church in Azay-le-Rideau plays second fiddle to its illustrious neighbour (the chateau) but is still worth a visit when you are in the town. Dedicated to Saint Synphorien (?) the church, which has been a protected monument since 1908, is not the most attractive of buildings, with its façade displaying a mixture of styles that appear to be at odds with each other.
 

There has been an attempt to modify the earlier14th  century part of the church to blend in with the later 16th century addition which works by degrees...as if showing the scars of time.



To get its best view you have to wander around to the entrance of the chateau and pear over the hedge but even here it is still a bit of a mismatch.


 Inside the church is pretty enough with its two naves blending slightly better internally than externally, although still displaying their individual Romanesque and Gothic styles.   



Around the alter the are the remnants of very early  frescos.






Its windows are a mixture of old and new(er) with some of them having to be replaced fron WWII war damage.

Where's Joan...







2 comments:

  1. What have you done to your blog Jim?
    Whatever it is, it doesn't wurk!!
    The first entry looks like a Google Images page... so exited & I re-clicked... and got the same...
    then moved over the latest picture which gave me a title at least...
    that opened into a tiny blog area with the other page as a background....
    too bloody complex, certainly first thing on a Sunday morning.
    Probably see you at the "fete du lait" in Liguel?

    ReplyDelete
  2. We agree tooooooo complicated for any morning!!!!

    ReplyDelete