Saint Germain\'s Chapel

Description

The Chapel of Saint Germanus (Chapelle Saint-Germain) is one of the earliest surviving places of Christian worship in the Cotentin Peninsula. It is a small building with walls built from small pieces of shale arranged in a herringbone pattern. The chapel consists of a short nave, and transepts and a choir each formed from an identical apse with half domed roofs. This tri-lobate plan, which is unusual, is the result of a reconstruction in the 9th or 10th century on remains of a palaeo-Christian basilica which has been revealed by archaeological excavations. In the 17th century, the chapel was topped by a tower which in turn replaced an older tower structure.