THE ST.CHRISTOPHE CHURCH

>> INTERIOR AND WALL PAINTINGS (click here)

In 1849 Montferrand was provided with a new church, built in the village. Little by little the St.Christophe chapel was abandonned - the former parish building built in its little cemetery at some 800 metres was as from then deprived of its church services. The State of the building required major work and public money was scarce ; decisions had to be made. It was decided, no doubt reluctantly, in the second half of that century, to demolish the main part of the nave, leaving one vaulted section with a lowered roof next to the bell tower, instead of undertaking expensive repairs. This explains the disproportions of the existing monument : a minute nave dominated by an enormous chevet. We will attempt to reconstitute the monument’s history with an architectural analysis. Firstly, as for the contempory period, there are three dates to be noted : 1973 registration on the historical monuments list. 1980 discovery of the medieval wall paintings. 2001 classification as a historical monument.

 

 

 

THE EXTERIOR

The high tower is seen from afar, a medieval mark rousing above the countryside, dominating the Couze valley from the plateau. The nave (or what remains of it) gives us some important information if we look at its construction. A « fish bone » effect can be observed where the rows of oblique stones have been placed inversely one after the other and interspersed with small horizontal layers. As this method was used before the twelfth century, we can gather that the vaulted chancel was added on to an older nave - the new construction inserted its western wall between the vertical chains of the nave using them as buttresses. On the south side of the church, three openings can be observed. Only the central window is original. It was during a new era of construction at the end of the Romanesque period and at the beginning of the Gothic period that the tower, seen today, was raised above the single vault. it is remarkably in harmony. The change is method is seen straightaway. The roxs of horizontal stones are of regular cut limestone. A cornice at the top marks the end of the first elevation and the start of the bell chamber. This cornice rests on simply curt projecting stones that, for some, have indistrinct sculptural shapes. Only the corner decorations are clearly visible and represent human faces. The bell chamber is pierced on each side by two Gothic bays with broken arches. These bays are of identical proportions, but differ in the pillars supporting the vaults and in their arches. The belfry is composed of enormous cak beams that could be original. These just sit in hollows in the walls to avoid the transmission to the stonework of the sound waves. The bell is recent (nineteenth century). Upon examination of the building the architectural evolution can be observed and we realise that the part visible today is not the only transformation and that over the centuries the monument has undergone several alterations.