Église Saint-Pierre de Bar-sur-Aube et son halloy

Bar-sur-Aube

In the list of eighty stopping-places noted by the retinue of Archbishop Sigeric in 990, the stage Bar is identified as Bar-sur-Aube: the road to Rome came down the valley here before climbing again towards the plateau of Langres. A century and a half later, the same road served quite another purpose. The counts of Champagne had organised six great annual fairs between Lagny, Provins, Troyes and Bar-sur-Aube; the fair at Bar opened before mid-Lent and made the little town, for a few weeks a year, a European market where the cloth of Flanders was exchanged for the silver of the Italians — Sienese money-changers are attested at Provins as early as 1230. The church of Saint-Pierre, built in the 12th century, still bears the mark of this double life: the wooden gallery that wraps round it on the south and the west, called here the halloy, sheltered the merchants of the fair and also served as the parish cemetery, as the registers attest. It is a rare construction, one of the last of its kind in Champagne. Inside, the Romanesque nave has been reworked over the centuries and the side chapels date from the 16th. The pilgrim who passed that way walked in the ruts of trade, and lived by it: where the bales of cloth travelled, there were bridges kept in repair, inns, and a policing of the roads.

Wikipédia — Église Saint-Pierre de Bar-sur-Aube ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Bar-sur-Aube, a step away from the town hall; parking on the neighbouring squares. The church is open during the day outside services, entry is free; the halloy can be walked round from outside at any hour. The old town is visited on foot, by the signposted circuit that links Saint-Pierre to Saint-Maclou.

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

Ambient sound