User:Sad Rist/Église Saint-Denis d'Amboise

The Saint-Denis Church is a parish church located in the commune of Amboise in the French department of Indre-et-Loire.

Formerly a collegiate church until the French Revolution, it later became a parish church. Its construction began in the 12th century but was altered in the 15th and 16th centuries. The building has been classified as a historical monument since 1968.

Location
The church is situated at the foot of the oppidum des Châteliers, the first inhabited nucleus from Prehistory to the end of Antiquity. During the Middle Ages, the inhabited areas shifted towards the Loire Valley, and it was around the church that the medieval town was built.

History
In 1107, Hugues I of Amboise, Lord of Touraine, began the construction of the current church as a replacement for a oratory built by Martin of Tours. The choir and transept were built during this construction phase. The nave and its side aisles were added in the late 12th century. The chevet was modified in the 15th century with the addition of two lateral apsidioles. The south aisle was expanded in the 16th century. The bell tower located on the crossing of the transept collapsed in the 18th century but was immediately rebuilt.

Architecture
The church, in its original configuration, takes the form of a Latin cross with a nave, transept, and chevet. Soon after, the side aisles of the nave were expanded to the width of the transept. On the other side of the transept, two apsidioles on each side of the choir completed the volume of the church before a second south aisle was constructed.

The western facade, pierced by a round arch portal, is flanked by two massive buttresses. The south aisle added in the 16th century, longer than the nave, extends beyond this facade. The north aisle, divided into three bays by buttresses, also has a round arch portal opening onto the square. The bell tower, although rebuilt in the 19th century, retains its original base on the north side. The windows of the chevet apsidioles were redone in the 16th century, and the main apse window in the 17th century. They all feature flamboyant Gothic decoration.

Internally, the nave is divided into three bays with highly curved vaults.

Decoration and Furnishings
Internally, the capitals are carved with religious scenes, but they also feature characters from the Roman de Renart. In the southern apsidiole, there is a 17th-century altarpiece, and the back wall of the southern aisle is occupied by a sculpture representing the Entombment of Christ.