Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, a Romanesque Abbey

After an absence of more than twenty years, the Bibliothèque de la Société Française d’Archéologie is back with a new format, richly illustrated with B&W and colour photos. Its first publication is dedicated to a prestigious Romanesque monument, the Abbey of Saint Benoît sur Loire.

For a century and a half, the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire was at the heart of architectural creation in Capetian France. The entrance tower built at the beginning of the 11^th century was a key monument in Romanesque art in terms both of its prestigious architecture and the numbers of richly sculpted capitals. Less than a hundred years later and the relics of Saint Benoît, held in the Abbey since the 7^th century, were transferred to a new apse, massive and well-lit, which was one of the most significant architectural works of its time. The nave, finally, begun at the dawn of gothic architecture, bears witness to a more austere vision of monastic architecture but retains its glorious column-figure gate built to welcome pilgrims. For visitors who enter into the church however, the dominant impression is one of harmony, above and beyond the diversity of styles. 

On the web:

http://sf-archeologie.net/Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire-L-abbatiale.html