The Whispering Stones of St-Sulpice De Royan Church

The Medieval Garden greets the visitors as they arrive in Saint-Sulpice de Royan, on the road to the crowded beaches of Summer. With its barriers made of branches and wide selection of rare plants, beautifully presented and explained, it is a jewel case for the typical Romanesque church.

The Wars of Religion damaged many masterpieces in the region and here particularly, but could never remove the spirit and letter with which the masons, stone carvers and carpenters built such beauties. A whisper at the entrance of the nave can be heard in the choir. This is due to the quality of stone and magnificent architecture. The stone will also tell you all the vicissitudes this church had to undergo.

The elegant  façade certainly was erected in the middle of the XIIth century. It has a pointed arch portal with five  mouldings framed by two blind arcades decorated with a ribbon of foliage and finely carved capitals. The first floor includes a bay with colonnettes. As we enter, we are quite surprised to discover the church is covered with a Gothic vault with intersecting ribs. The choir, nave and transept were destroyed by the Huguenots. The semi-circular choir was rebuilt between 1852 and 1856 by the local architect Etienne-Firmin Arnault, it bathes in a vaporous atmosphere with the ochre colour of walls and beautiful half-moon shaped stained glass window. The cupola resting on squinches adds to the impression of solemnity and meditation. The colonnettes  show exquisite capitals with the seashell, an emblem of the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostella and a symbolic star rising above the sea.  The paintings (probably from the XVIIth century) recreate a décor with a frieze and a false tapestry, that we might have forgotten.  All the churches were painted in the Middle-Ages. The bell tower is an authentic witness of the Romanesque period, it  displays a series of five blind semi-circular arcades with beautiful capitals. It is surmounted by a cornice with modillions and high windows.  A curious Protestant Temple can be seen also in Saint-Sulpice de Royan. It was built by Jossier in 1858.

The Romanesque church of Saint-Sulpice de Royan as seen from the Medieval Garden.

The wonderful Medieval Garden.

The façade of the church.

 Choir and paintings. 

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Capitals with the seashell of the Pilgrims of Santiago de Compostella.

The North side showing the traces of the destroyed transept and XIXth century choir.

The choir.

All photos by the author, copyright Francois Hagnere, July 2010.