Saint-Savin (Vienne)

Saint- Savin, formerly called Saint- Savin -sur -Gartempe, is a commune in the department of Vienne in the Poitou -Charentes with 883 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011). The municipality, at the same time chief -lieu of the canton of the same name, was known mainly by the Abbey of Saint -Savin -sur -Gartempe, which was established in 1983, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Etymology

Savin is the name of a bishop who is also called Sabinian. He was the first Bishop of Sens and has worked in the second half of the third century. He has founded several churches, so probably this abbey. Gartempe is, the small river that flows directly to the choir of the abbey church.

Geography

Saint- Savin is in the valley of the Gartempe, right on the banks of the river at an average altitude of 87 m. Originally located on the border of the historical provinces of Poitou and Berry, Saint- Savin is now assigned to the department of Vienne. The distance from Paris is about 310 km, Poitiers 45 km.

Coat of arms

Description: In blue a golden winning großbuchstabiges E, three golden lilies accompany a crossed goldgegrifftes knife with silver blade and a golden palm fronds.

History

First traces evidence of a settlement in the Gallo - Roman era. 1820, the former municipality of Mont-Saint -Savin was incorporated.

Abbey Church

The Romanesque abbey church, begun in the mid-11th century, houses many murals remarkably well preserved 11th and 12th century. Therefore it is also called the " Sistine Chapel of Romanesque ." Since 1983 she is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cruciform ground plan bears in the middle of a square tower. The Transeptum was built first, then the choir with its ambulatory with five chapels in the polygonal apse. In the next building phase three axes of the ship, the bell tower and the portal were added, and finally the remaining six axes of the ship. The bell tower was complemented by a finely crafted, more than 80 m high stone peak in the 14th century. The Hundred Years' War, the church was burnt down, rebuilt in the 17th and 19th centuries. Under the church is the crypt with the tombs of the saints Saint- Savin and St Cyprien, decorated with frescoes of the life of the saints.

About this construction, there is no documentary news. The date had to rely exclusively on stylistic considerations. After the abbey church in 1060 was started with the west wing and the transept, 1075-1095 was followed by the choir and the nave as a hall. In 1115 the church was completed. That there is an abbey church at St- Savin, one sees especially at the much later built convent buildings.

The church still has its original vault paintings from the period around 1100. These paintings are mostly lost in the church indoors, which is why many churches today look unnatural bald. Medieval churches were originally painted but strong. The historic preservation is struggling with the color scheme, because the models are lost. That is why this church is so important.

In Saint- Savin is in the vault of the nave still a ton of example get, like medieval interiors have actually looked like. In all the books on the church painting of the time examples of this abbey are shown. The porch and the crypt are still covered with frescoes. This is the most comprehensive and artistically significant cycle Romanesque frescoes in France - with a total area of ​​413 m². Since it is in the construction is a hall that vault ton is not interrupted by windows.

Threads of the Longhouse painting are the Genesis and Exodus, so the first two books of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. This ceiling painting must be seen thematically related to the originally present other games. The images from the Old Testament in the longhouse prepare for the New Testament in the choir. The apocalyptic scenes and the heavenly Jerusalem are shown in the porch, in the crypt of the lives of two saints. So the whole Church offered a historically coherent graphic novel on their walls.

The church is a pseudo- basilica. It is the earliest surviving building of poitevinischen Bauschule the vaulted hall churches.

In the Romanesque art, the mural had a clear didactic function, they should support the mediation of the Christian message. In order to present the topics easy to understand, was on picturesque sophistication largely dispensed with in favor of less, repetitive tones. Different shades rarely directly used to this end. The contours are clearly drawn and stand out against the plain background, no superfluous detail disturbs the composition.

The Romanesque wall painting was not trying to imitate reality. Nature is indicated only weak in the images. There is no perspective, but only the so-called semantic perspective, that is, the individual subjects are displayed larger or smaller according to their importance. A column, a tower or a facade symbolize the city, a tree is the sign of lush vegetation - that was enough. The anatomy of the body is also outlined only a few strokes. The key, however, are posture and gestures of the people; these stand out clearly from the solid background. So whichever is the dramatic action.

Part of the Freskenzyklusses is no longer maintained. The rest are arranged in four strips, two on each side of the vault. In order to follow the development of the narrative, the viewer in the ship must walk up and down.

To get the frescoes were restored this over several years. The restoration work has been completed since July 2008.

Twinning

Saint- Savin has since 1960 been twinned with the Belgian city of malls in Flanders and since 1969 with the German city of Heusenstamm in Hesse.