In need of help: the Romanesque church of Saint-Nicolas in Brem-sur-Mer (last photos)
The village of Brem-sur-Mer, as the name indicates, has recently developed itself as a coastal resort, but the old heart of the village lies about one kilometer inland, centered around the Saint-Nicolas church.
In the Middle Ages, most of the people living along seaboards had a profound distrust of the ocean; it was a physically threatening environment, rumored to be populated with all sorts of creatures one didn’t want to see any closer. People who lived on fertile lands that could feed them, as is the case in Vendée, resolutely turned their backs on the ocean, contrary to some of the Bretons, whose granite land is often much less accommodating in terms of agriculture, and who therefore had to turn to the sea and marine resources to feed themselves as properly as possible, which was often not much.
The Saint-Nicolas church is a Year 1000 church, one of the oldest in all of Vendée, if not the oldest. It was originally built as a three-nave church by the Benedictine monks from the abbey of Marmoutier, who installed a priory there. When it was consecrated in 1070, it was a jewel of Romanesque architecture, as attested today by what remains of that original church.
It was then badly damaged during the Wars of Religion. The aisles were destroyed, and only the main nave was rebuilt, using stones from the aisles destroyed by the Protestants.
This remarkable church is mostly known among Mediævalists for its enigmatic portal which, curiously, was not an element of the original church, whose façade was devoid of decoration. The portal is believed to have been added around 1100. Treated in the archaic way called in French à l’antique, it includes a triangular gable sculpted in low relief.
The central figure is thought to represent Saint Nicolas, but no one has ever come with a satisfying explanation as to what the surrounding creatures (men, women and beasts) were, and why they were there. This enigma still puzzles art historians to this day.
A great romantic charm emanates from Saint-Nicolas, because of its obvious very old age and the fact that it is partly ruined, but a great sadness also grips the beholder as they assess the poor condition the church is in at this time (May 2024). The combination of rain infiltrations and the action of the humid, salty ocean air, have seriously damaged the monument. Restoration and repair works are urgently needed to protect both the structure itself, and the alfresco wall paintings that have recently been discovered inside.
One of the charities I work for as a pro bono photographer, the Fondation du Patrimoine, has launched a fundraising operation that has already collected more than 168,000 euros, versus a target figure of 300,000. If you too want to help, even in a very small way, you can make an online donation here: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/eglise-saint-nic.... If you are a French tax resident, you will receive a certificate allowing you to deduct 75 percent of your donation against your taxes next year.
One last look at the enigmatically decorated portal. This angle better shows the inner architectural complexities of the arches. They denote influences from the neighboring province of Saintonge, which lies just south of Vendée, between it and the Bordeaux area.
In need of help: the Romanesque church of Saint-Nicolas in Brem-sur-Mer (last photos)
The village of Brem-sur-Mer, as the name indicates, has recently developed itself as a coastal resort, but the old heart of the village lies about one kilometer inland, centered around the Saint-Nicolas church.
In the Middle Ages, most of the people living along seaboards had a profound distrust of the ocean; it was a physically threatening environment, rumored to be populated with all sorts of creatures one didn’t want to see any closer. People who lived on fertile lands that could feed them, as is the case in Vendée, resolutely turned their backs on the ocean, contrary to some of the Bretons, whose granite land is often much less accommodating in terms of agriculture, and who therefore had to turn to the sea and marine resources to feed themselves as properly as possible, which was often not much.
The Saint-Nicolas church is a Year 1000 church, one of the oldest in all of Vendée, if not the oldest. It was originally built as a three-nave church by the Benedictine monks from the abbey of Marmoutier, who installed a priory there. When it was consecrated in 1070, it was a jewel of Romanesque architecture, as attested today by what remains of that original church.
It was then badly damaged during the Wars of Religion. The aisles were destroyed, and only the main nave was rebuilt, using stones from the aisles destroyed by the Protestants.
This remarkable church is mostly known among Mediævalists for its enigmatic portal which, curiously, was not an element of the original church, whose façade was devoid of decoration. The portal is believed to have been added around 1100. Treated in the archaic way called in French à l’antique, it includes a triangular gable sculpted in low relief.
The central figure is thought to represent Saint Nicolas, but no one has ever come with a satisfying explanation as to what the surrounding creatures (men, women and beasts) were, and why they were there. This enigma still puzzles art historians to this day.
A great romantic charm emanates from Saint-Nicolas, because of its obvious very old age and the fact that it is partly ruined, but a great sadness also grips the beholder as they assess the poor condition the church is in at this time (May 2024). The combination of rain infiltrations and the action of the humid, salty ocean air, have seriously damaged the monument. Restoration and repair works are urgently needed to protect both the structure itself, and the alfresco wall paintings that have recently been discovered inside.
One of the charities I work for as a pro bono photographer, the Fondation du Patrimoine, has launched a fundraising operation that has already collected more than 168,000 euros, versus a target figure of 300,000. If you too want to help, even in a very small way, you can make an online donation here: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/eglise-saint-nic.... If you are a French tax resident, you will receive a certificate allowing you to deduct 75 percent of your donation against your taxes next year.
One last look at the enigmatically decorated portal. This angle better shows the inner architectural complexities of the arches. They denote influences from the neighboring province of Saintonge, which lies just south of Vendée, between it and the Bordeaux area.