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The Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay () is a Romanesque church in Ainay in the Presqu'île district in the historic centre of
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. A quintessential example of Romanesque architecture, it was inscribed on the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
along with other notable buildings in the centre of Lyon as a testimony to Lyon's long history as an important European town and unique blend of architectural styles.


History


Legend

Legendary origins of a remarkably large church, which may once have stood on this site, are noted by
Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
and may be connected to the account of
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
, in his '' Historia Ecclesiae'', of the martyrdom of
Blandina Saint Blandina (, c. 162–177 AD) was a Christianity, Christian martyr who died in Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Context In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was the local Roman off ...
, the young girl among 48 Christians fed to lions by the Romans in 177 in Lyon's
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...
. The lions refused to eat her, according to Eusebius: she and the others were martyred nevertheless. Their bones were burnt, thrown into the river, and washed up downstream where the surviving Christians of the community buried them secretly beneath the altar of what Gregory calls a "basilica of remarkable magnitude." Other candidates for the martyrs' basilica site include the Church of Saint Nizier, upstream, and
Lyon Cathedral Lyon Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church located on Place Saint-Jean in central Lyon, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon. Begun in 1180 on the ruins of ...
across the Saône.


Ainay Abbey

A
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
priory was founded on the Lyon peninsula in 859. When later it was raised to the rank of an abbey, major building works began: the abbey church was built at the end of the 11th century under Abbot Gaucerand, consecrated on 29 January 1107 and dedicated to
Saint Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hungary), he converted to ...
by Pope Pascal II. This church is today one of the Romanesque churches still extant in Lyon. The tiny building with its massive walls, watchtower, narrow window openings and spaces for heavy doors, was apparently built with defence in mind, and reflects the many dangers of warfare and violent incursions of the period of its construction. In 1245 at the
First Council of Lyon The First Council of Lyon (Lyon I) was the thirteenth ecumenical council, as numbered by the Catholic Church, taking place in 1245. This was the first ecumenical council to be held outside Rome's Lateran Palace after the Great Schism of 1054. ...
Ainay Abbey was acknowledged to have precedence over 71 churches, abbeys and priories from Burgundy to Provence, and was thus one of the most powerful religious houses in the region. During the Renaissance the monastery owned a port, the abbot lived in a palace and the monks had the use of substantial buildings, cloisters, a garden and a vineyard. Little by little, the life of the community ceased to be a monastic one, particularly once the abbots became commendatory and were nominated by the king. The abbey's temporal power continued, but its spiritual life evaporated. In 1562, during the
French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...
, the troops of the Baron des Adrets destroyed part of the buildings, including the cloister; the church was badly damaged. In 1600, King
Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
stayed at the abbey on the occasion of his marriage to
Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...
which took place in
Lyon Cathedral Lyon Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church located on Place Saint-Jean in central Lyon, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon. Begun in 1180 on the ruins of ...
.


Secular community, parish church and basilica

By the end of the 17th century the monastic community had ceased to exist. The church and remaining buildings were handed over to a secular chapter in 1685. The church became a parish church, and on 27 January 1780, ceased to have the title of abbey.
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
stayed there with his minister Richelieu, and
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
stayed there four times. During the French Revolution the premises were confiscated and nationalised, and the abbots' palace destroyed. The church became a grain store, which saved it from being likewise destroyed. The church was returned to parish use in 1802. It was classed as a ''
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 collection of buildings, ...
'' in 1844, and during the course of the 19th century was restored in a Romanesque Revival style by the architects Pollet and Benoôt in a "pure Romanesque" spirit, destroying the last remains of the cloister and enlarging it by the addition of side chapels. The church was raised to the rank of basilica by
Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...
on 13 June 1905.


Architecture

The basilica at Ainay contains several architectural styles: the chapel of Saint Blandina is pre-Romanesque; the principal structure is Romanesque; the chapel of
Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...
is Gothic; and the overall restoration and enlargement of the 19th century is Romanesque Revival.Plan of the basilica at Ainay
Nevertheless, despite its eventful history, the church retains a genuine unity of style. The nave measures 17 metres in width, and the whole structure is 37 metres in length.


Burials

The basilica of Saint-Martin is the burial place of Bishop John O'Brien of
Cloyne Cloyne () is a small town located to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork, Ireland. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic dioce ...
and Ross in Ireland, the noted Irish lexicographer and antiquarian, who died in Lyon on 13 March 1769.


See also

*
History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine Empire, Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries fol ...


Notes


Sources and bibliography


Lyon, basilique Saint-Martin d'Ainay

Photos of the Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay
;Bibliography * ''L'abbaye d'Ainay: légendes et histoire: xposition Musée historique de Lyon, Hôtel de Gadagne, octobre 1997-février 1998''. Lyon: Musée historique de Lyon, 1997 * Bernard, Aug. (ed.), 1853: ''Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Savigny. Suivi du Petit cartulaire de l'Abbaye d'Ainay'', (Collection de documents inédits sur l'histoire de France. Première série, Histoire politique.) 2 vols. Paris: Imprimerie impériale * Reynaud, Jean-François, 1997: ''L'âme romane de Lyon'', with photographs by Pierre Aubert (
yon Yon may refer to: * Yon (name), including a list of people with the name * Yon (river), France * Yon Mound and Village Site, a prehistoric archaeological site in Florida * ''Yön'' ("Direction" in English), a Turkish weekly leftist political magaz ...
(BP 1192, 69203 Cedex 01): Groupe Esprit public, 1997) {{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica Of Saint-Martin D'ainay 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France 2nd arrondissement of Lyon Roman Catholic churches in Lyon Romanesque architecture in France Basilica churches in France Ainay Abbey Ainay Abbey