Église Notre-Dame d'Avenas et son autel roman

Deux-Grosnes (Avenas)

The church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption at Avenas, built between 1088 and 1150, is a modest Romanesque church with a single nave of about 15 metres by 5.50, a dome over the crossing and an apse adorned with blind arcading. Yet it houses one of the masterpieces of French Romanesque sculpture: an altar formed of four blocks of white, marble-like limestone, carved in the first quarter of the 12th century and listed as early as 1901. Its principal face shows a Christ in Majesty seated on a Byzantine throne, surrounded by the twelve apostles and the symbols of the evangelists; the north face unfolds four scenes from the life of the Virgin; the south face depicts a king offering the church. A Latin inscription names this king "Louis", and a whole legend has grown up around it: the old tradition saw in him Louis the Pious, who was said to have founded the sanctuary around 824–830 after razing the castle of Torvéon, lair of the traitor Ganelon defeated by Charlemagne. Modern historians have rejected this Carolingian dating — the style "invincibly" rules it out — and hesitate between Saint Louis, who passed through Mâcon in 1248, Louis VI and Louis VII. Restored in the 1960s by the architect Rogatien Le Nail, the church then received stained glass by Luc Barbier.

Getting there : Village of Avenas, commune of Deux-Grosnes, near the Col de Crie, on the D18 between Beaujeu and Monsols; parking in the village square, church open during the day. On the old Roman road from Lyon to Autun.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound