Saint-Symphorien Church

As early as the 12th century, men built a church dedicated to Saint-Symphorien, a Christian martyr. This pilgrimage church was restored in the 15th century and again in the 19th century. The silhouette of the church of Saint-Symphorien is marked by its circular belfry resembling a mill. This church has preserved the Romanesque composition of its western façade, despite the addition of two imposing buttresses in the 15th century. There is an interesting sculptured ensemble composed of X-shaped arabesques, griffins, many dancing and singing figures and, on the first floor window, two arches, one of which reproduces the very common pattern in Saintonge of the Vices and Virtues . Inside, one must note the seigniorial chapel as well as several remarkably protected objects : two paintings of the 17th century of the saintongeais painter Bragny, an "Assumption of the Virgin" from 1676, the other the "Martyr of Saint-Symphorien "(1641) as well as a bell bearing the date of 1629.

Show less