Yonne Sens Saint-Pierre-le-Rond 07062010 - panoramio

The church of St. Pierre le Rond is a Catholic church in

Sens, Yonne Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

, at 115 kilometers South West from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. It is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

and is a church of the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre.

History

The church was founded in 13th century. Le Rond means 'round' from the shape of the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

which was elevated in 1728. In 1791, one of the bells was given to in Paron. At the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the priest escaped from the church, disguised as a

cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

er. Two citizens from Sens, Macé and Thomas, managed to buy the church and so saved the building from revolutionary fury. They said to authorities that they would transform it as a fodder barn. In fact they saved all the stained glass windows and furniture. After the Revolution, they sold it back to the priest, Fr. Rupier, who gave it to the

Cathedral of Sens Sens Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Sens) is a Catholic cathedral in Sens in Burgundy, eastern France. The cathedral, dedicated to Saint Stephen, is the seat of the Archbishop of Sens. Sens was the first cathedral to be built ...

in 1797. The church was consecrated and restored. In 1965 after Vatican II, the church was closed and never re-opened. Today it is in a desperate state. It has been registered since 1965 as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

''.

Architecture

The large nave dates from the 14th century and the North aisle from the beginning of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

(end of 15th century). The woodwork and the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

go back to 16th century, so does the framing of the vaulted nave. Some pieces of furniture are registered into Monuments historiques, such as an ''Entombment of Christ'', the 18th-century

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants ...

s, one statue of St. Roman (bishop of Auxerre in 6th century) and another of St. Bernard, the Renaissance stained glass windows (some created by

Jean Cousin the Elder Jean Cousin (1500 – before 1593) was a French painter, sculptor, etcher, engraver, and geometrician. He is known as "Jean Cousin the Elder" to distinguish him from his son Jean Cousin the Younger, also an artist. Career Cousin was born at ...

), one statue of St. Anne in stone, a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of St.

Hubertus Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he was ...

. The stalls are from 16th century. Two paintings are remarkable, one with ''St. Peter freed by angels'' and another ''Madonna with a dove''. Other paintings show the Evangelists. File:Sens, église Saint-Pierre-le-Rond, vitrail.jpg, Renaissance stained glass window of the North aisle File:Église Saint-Pierre-le-Rond Autel.jpg, Damaged 18th-century altar File:Sens, église Saint-Pierre-le-Rond, collatéral.jpg, North aisle An association has been created in 2016 to save the church but nothing has been done yet.↑ Nathalie Hadrbolec, « Saint-Pierre-le-Rond, l'église mystérieuse », Au fil de l'Yonne, le magazine du Conseil départemental, n° 124, February 2016.

Notes

{{coord, 48.19632, 3.28135, format=dms, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Sens Pierre le Ron