ABBAYE DE VILLEMAGNE

All that remains of the former abbey church dedicated to Saint Martin and Saint Majan, now a parish church, are the choir, two bays of the nave and the bell tower, all dating from the 14th century. The church is in the Southern Gothic style, with a single, wide nave, no aisles, and deep buttresses between which are small radiating chapels. The exterior features defensive elements (machicolations on arches between buttresses and walled bays), evidence of the fighting during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. Looted and partially destroyed by the Huguenots in 1562, the abbey was abandoned before being restored by the Saint-Maur congregation in the 17th century. The façade, built in a very different style (traces of the medieval wall being torn away are still visible), dates from this period. Furnishings: relics of Saint Majan, early medieval capitals, medieval altar tables?

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