User:Museecivaux/Church of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais in Civaux

The chuch is located in Civaux, a village in the Vienne department and it is known for being one of the oldest churches of France. It is dedicated to Saint Gervais and Saint Protais, twins martyrs of the first century.

Architecture
In the choir/quire, there is a Chi Rho engraved in a paleochristian stela which shows the early presence of a christian building between 350-400. This could be a mausoleum for Aeternalis y Servilla.

The actual apse is build upon the mausoleum' remains in the Merovingian era.

The nave's walls were built in the 10-11th centuries and were pierced with small thin windows. The facade is decorated with a cornice carried by animal and human modillons. The church's stone bell tower was built in the 12th century.

The capitals
The nave's capitals date from the early 12th century. The style is close to the Saint-Pierre-de-Chauvigny's capitals (a dragon eating a damned and an atlas). However, a three scenes capital is way more special, indeed, you can observe a wedding, a temptation and an eucharist scene.

Paintings
Most of the paintings were made in the XIX century. The stary sky was painted in 1860. In 1861-1863 are added the nave's decrations and dark lines which forms a trompe l'oeil. In 1866, Honoré Hivonnais painted Saint Gervais and Saint Protais in the choir. They are carrying what killed them such as a whip for Gervais and a sword for Protais.

The church was fully restored between 2010 and 2013. The restoration led to the discovery of roman walls from the 4/5th century in the choir and of a gothic wall painting on a column in the entrance. This last painting represents Saint Christophe carrying Christ child on his shoulder.

How to visit
The archeological museum of Civaux offers audioguides and guided tours. All the informations on their website


 * Liste des monuments historiques de la Vienne