On 15 October 1575, after ravaging Le Malzieu-Ville, the captain Matthieu Merle took Issoire. He attempted to burn down the Abbayale Saint-Austremoine, but when he failed to ignite the building, he flayed three religious men alive in his frustration.
Built around 1130, this is one of the five major Romanesque churches of Auvergne. It is unique among these five for possessing a rectangular axial chapel in addition to its radiating chapels. Constructed from arkose, the church is situated in Issoire and features a characteristic vertical silhouette.
Inside, the 13th-century polychromy is a centerpiece, restored between 1857 and 1859 by the painter Anatole Dauvergne for 60,000 gold francs. These paintings, featuring bright red-brown tones, were created using the fresco technique, which was relatively rare in France compared to the more common secco technique.
Visitors can view the massive barlong massif and the complex mosaic work in the chevet, which features an abundance of decoration and polychromy achieved through the use of basalt. The church remains a protected monument, having survived a criminal fire in 2016 that limited damage to furniture and a painting.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.