PARNAY ; St Peter’s Church

PARNAY

St Peter’s Church

History

Parnay’s church dedicated to St. Pierre, which stands alone at the top and on the edge of the hillside overlooking the Loire, was part, in the 11th century, of the diocese of Angers. It was pledged to Canon Rainard whom, with the consent of  Bishop Geoffroy, donated it to the abbey of Saint-Aubin d'Angers, in 1089.
Later, it went to the patronage of the cathedral of Poitiers, the chapter of which perceived 2/ 3 of the tithes, leaving the remaining third to the priest.

In September 1587 the Huguenots occupied the parish during a fortnight as reported by the priest of that time, Gilles Mauxion.

The first known lord of Parnay is Jean du Plessis said Le Bègue, equerry and adviser of  King René in 1454, his tomb can be seen in the church. But the ownership of the parish was contested between the lord of Targé who provided the land for the church and the lord of Parnay who held his rights from the Chapter of Poitiers. They were often treated in acts as "co-seigneurs."

Description

The building reflects a complicated evolution.
The nave and the facade were built in the 19^th except for the portal which is from the 16^th century. It has been preserved and has a of the porch with stone benches.

On the right and in front of the choir, rises the bell tower dating from the early 12th century. It is opened on each side with twin arch windows and surrounded by an hexagonal stone steeple from the 16^th century decorated in the window-corners with salient gables as in Cizay and St. Eusèbe of Gennes.
At the south corner, a turret staircase from the 15^th-16^th century adjoins the roman bell tower.

Inside, the nave, rebuilt in the 19^th, communicates with the aisles by semi-circular arcades that are based on cylindrical pillars, the capitals of which are decorated with water leaves or roughly carved animals. They are the only witnesses of the 11^th century.

The square of the transept has a barrel vault and the pillars that support it, have hollow starsmoldings.

The vault under the steeple shows an arch alternating brick and freestone as in Saint Serge and Saint-Martin in Angers, which could be a vestige of an earlier church.

The Gothic choir was built in the 15^thcentu ry, as was the polygonal apse which is lighted by two flamboyant tracery windows and covered with a seven branches vault.

The south transept chapel is dedicated to the Virgin. It was decorated with a remarkable golden wood statue from the 15th century that was stolen on the 31st January 1978 and has not been found since.
The Lord’s funerary recess in the north transept contains the tomb adorned with quatrefoils and the Arms of Jean du Plessis mentionned above, who died on the 28^th of November 1476 and his wife Michelle de Clausis who died  on the 16^th of October 1479.

Finally, at the entrance of the church, is a holy water font cut into six inner lobes in an elongated cube. Further on the left, embedded in the first pillar, a second holy water font, the two salient angles of which are carved with grotesque heads.

To pirnt: PARNAY11