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St.Martin-de-Lignieres-de-Touraine

The village of Lignières-de-Touraine sits on the D57 between Azay-le Rideau and Langeais and like most villages of the area it has its church at its centre. The church of Saint Martin however is a surprising little place. Even as you approach it its history immediately strikes you - it looks just like two little churches joined together.

As you enter the main arched door on the left you realise that the church has two naves, the panelled barrel ceiling choir and asp are from the 12th century apparently along with the tower which sits to the right as you face the altar, the other side of the church sits under the tower which was added to either side in the 15th/16th century to form the second nave.

The main attraction of this little church is the 13th century frescoes that adorn the choir and asp hailed as one of the finest, almost complete, set of medieval paintings in the region

I have links to two good blog posts with details of the frescoes below.

The second nave has an altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary at one end an a  modern, less imposing fresco at the other end.

   

There are some pretty stained glass windows...

and Joan

 

External links:

https://lignieresdetouraine.fr/eglise-saint-martin/

Blog-roll:

https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.fr/2013/05/wonderful-wall-paintings.html

https://chezcharnizay.blogspot.fr/

 

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"Author: Jim Craig"

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