Notre-Dame de la Couture (''église de la Couture'') is a church in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

. Formerly the abbey church of

Saint-Pierre de la Couture Abbey Abbey of Saint-Pierre de la Couture (french: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de la Couture) was a Benedictine monastery in Le Mans. All that survives of it is the Notre-Dame de la Couture, abbey church and some of the abbey buildings; the latter date to a rebu ...

, it is in the centre of the present-day town. It mainly dates to the 12th century - it shows many similarities to

Le Mans Cathedral Le Mans Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans'') is a Catholic church situated in Le Mans, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the b ...

and

Angers Cathedral Angers Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Maurice in Angers, France. It is the seat of the Bishops of Angers. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, it is known for its mixtur ...

, both built at about the same time. Its large

westwork A westwork (german: Westwerk), forepart, avant-corps or avancorpo is the monumental, often west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interio ...

is framed by two differently-designed towers and other former abbey buildings abut the church, with the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

for

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the ''Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had ...

now occupying those on the south side. It was classed as a historic monument in 1840.

History

The abbey was founded just after 605 thanks to the generosity of bishop Bertechramnus, a supporter of

Chlothar II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French language, French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an in ...

. Then sited near Le Mans but outside its city walls, its abbey church was then known as the 'basilique Saints-Pierre-et-Paul' or basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. In his will of 616 Bertechramnus gave "the land of Couture" to the monastery, giving the abbey and the church its present name. In 865 and 866, the

Bretons The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celts, Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, par ...

and Normans both sacked Le Mans and the abbey was pillaged and partially destroyed. It was restored and rebuilt around 1000 and the church was renamed Saint-Pierre de la Couture by bishop Sigefroi, who became a monk in the abbey and partly left abbot Gauzbert to take on his duties. The remains of the original church can still be seen 18 metres up in the south cloister. EgliseNDdelaCoutureVueGeneraleInterieure

EgliseNDdelaCoutureVueGeneraleInterieure

For most of the 11th century the church and the town experienced relative peace and prosperity, notably under the control and influence of abbot Anselin. After his death in 1072 the situation became harder and his successor abbot Renaud faced several challenges. Building work on the church continued, forming an aisled nave, a transept and an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

choir opening onto five side chapels. All but one of these chapels are now lost - the surviving, that dedicated to St Joseph, is located to the south of the choir. Another survivor from this era is what now forms the exterior north wall. Like the nave of Le Mans Cathedral, the nave of this era at Notre-Dame was made up of fourteen spans separated by columns and double arches. In its first span on the north side is a late 11th century statue of Christ. A major fire in 1180 destroyed much of Le Mans and severely damaged Notre-Dame. The latter was rebuilt during the 12th century, showing the artistic originality developed by the

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in batt ...

court. The choir include

ogive An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

vaults and the former building was completely redesigned, trying to make the maximum use of space in the old building. Between each window is a

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

resting on a half-column. These show figures from the Old and New Testaments and may be the first of their kind, before the Plantagenets popularized them throughout their lands in Maine and Anjou - previously column-statues were more common in doorways than interiors. The nave is 42 metres long and has three spans on a square plan, drawing on

. At 22 metres long the main vaults are longer than the middle vaults of 16 metres. Some columns are more than 5 metres high although the exterior walls have been thickened to enable this. Unusually the central nave has twin windows topped by an

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

. The two west towers date to the 13th century. The porch originally had a triple arcade with a central column showing Christ, but that column was destroyed in the 19th century and never rebuilt due to difficulties finding matching stone of high enough quality - part of the lintel is also missing. The first sculptures were carved in 1245 and many on the porch survive in good condition, including two angels, four prophets and eight virgins.

Gallery

Image:La_Couture.jpg, View from the monument on place Aristide Briant Image:EgliseNDdelaCoutureNefversSortie.JPG, Nave and organ Image:Le Mans - Abbaye de la Couture 08.jpg, One of the nave aisles Image:EgliseNDdelaCoutureCrypte.JPG, Crypt File:Le Mans - Abbaye de la Couture 06.jpg, Tombstone of Jeanne Surlestanc (died 1407) in the crypt

Twinning

References

External links

Photos
{{Coord, 48.0022, N, 0.2000, E, source:wikidata, display=title Buildings and structures in Le Mans Basilica churches in France 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Churches in Sarthe