Notre Dame de Guibray Church

Falaise, France

The church of the suburb of Guibray, situated outside the walls of Falaise and to the south, occupies the primitive site of a pagan sanctuary, transformed into a chapel, in the Merovingian period, before 650.

In c. 1000, a new church was built, and re-worked between the end of the 11th century and the end of the 12th century, on a Romanesque plan with a central nave, two side aisles and a short transept, at the instigation of the abbey of the Trinité in Caen. The church is a dependency of the abbey of Caen like all the churches of Falaise through a donation in 1066 by the lord of Falaise, Mézidon and Ecajeul. The unity of the building was significantly disrupted by numerous re-workings, from the 13th century, but the façade from the 12th century has been preserved as well as the chevet from the end of the 11th century, with its three apses on several floors, very like those in Saint-Nicolas in Caen. The choir, stripped of its neo-classical decoration in 1986 has had its Romanesque arcatures restored to it. Some interesting Romanesque capitals top the pillars of the transept, choir and its side aisles.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 11th century
Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)

More Information

www.mondes-normands.caen.fr

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Nathalie Collignon (3 years ago)
I got married there 36 years ago, I accompanied my dad there for a last trip 3 days ago. This church means a lot to our family.
domden (3 years ago)
Very nice architecture. The Guibray district is old, the city should linger a bit there.
Blain Jérôme (3 years ago)
Belle église et sa ville
Jean-louis Leveel (4 years ago)
Very beautiful wind organ of any beauty
sandrine m (4 years ago)
Beautiful church
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Doune Castle

Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert"s stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany"s son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house.

In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn"s rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century.