St. Martin's Church in Valaurie (in French,
Église Saint-Martin de Valaurie) is a
Romanesque church located in
Valaurie in the French department of
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. and the
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
region of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
History
The church dates from the second century.
Yet its first foundations date from the fifth century. This parish church was also a place of worship of the priory near the village, just outside Valaurie. The entire building was damaged numerous times, notably by an earthquake in 1934 and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when the bell was cracked. Its condition has already resulted in several phases of work.
The bell on the tower was financed by the
Fondation du Patrimoine (Heritage Foundation), up to 11,865 euros.
This church is registered under
French Historic Monuments since July 17, 1926.
Architecture
The church is in the
Provençal Romanesque style with a semicircular
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
. It measures wide and long, with a height of .
It is one of the few examples in the region of
Tricastin to have an advanced front tower, offering a
porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
for the main entrance to the
vault . It ends with a stone roof pyramid. The
Nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of the building has 3 bays. The apse has the distinction of having a semicircular form inside and pentagonal form outside.
Architecture
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References
{{Authority control
Churches in Drôme