Azay-le-Rideau: Église Saint-Symphorien
View of Église Saint-Symphorien, the parish church of the village / small town of Azay-le-Rideau (the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), from the courtyard of the grounds of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, on a mostly clear late afternoon in mid-October.
While there was a church on the site by the 6th century, and parts of the facade date back to the 11th century (Romanesque period) with some possible Carolingian (9th century) decorative elements, it was considerably rebuilt during the 12th century and enlarged in the 16th century. It is located on the grounds of the château, whose surviving building is a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. As is characteristic of the area of the Touraine, a historical, pre-Revolutionary province, the building is of pale, silvery-grey to near-white tufa limestone (in French, tuffeau or tufeau).
While broadly considered part of the "Loire Valley" or Val de Loire, Azay-le-Rideau actually lies along the River Indre, which is a tributary of the Loire itself. Several mills were established in and near the village. The village is probably best known for the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. The château is surrounded by the Indre, which forms a natural moat, as well as a garden and parkland. Azay-le-Rideau is located within Le Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine (the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park).
(Information about the church from the Michelin Châteaux of the Loire Green Guide (Watford, Herts., UK: Michelin Travel Partner, 2015 printing), Mérimée (reference number PA00097549), an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture, and Wikipedia, last consulted 18 August 2018.)
[Azay-le-Rideau church from château afternoon 2016 oct 10 f; DSCF0319]
Azay-le-Rideau: Église Saint-Symphorien
View of Église Saint-Symphorien, the parish church of the village / small town of Azay-le-Rideau (the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), from the courtyard of the grounds of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, on a mostly clear late afternoon in mid-October.
While there was a church on the site by the 6th century, and parts of the facade date back to the 11th century (Romanesque period) with some possible Carolingian (9th century) decorative elements, it was considerably rebuilt during the 12th century and enlarged in the 16th century. It is located on the grounds of the château, whose surviving building is a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. As is characteristic of the area of the Touraine, a historical, pre-Revolutionary province, the building is of pale, silvery-grey to near-white tufa limestone (in French, tuffeau or tufeau).
While broadly considered part of the "Loire Valley" or Val de Loire, Azay-le-Rideau actually lies along the River Indre, which is a tributary of the Loire itself. Several mills were established in and near the village. The village is probably best known for the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. The château is surrounded by the Indre, which forms a natural moat, as well as a garden and parkland. Azay-le-Rideau is located within Le Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine (the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park).
(Information about the church from the Michelin Châteaux of the Loire Green Guide (Watford, Herts., UK: Michelin Travel Partner, 2015 printing), Mérimée (reference number PA00097549), an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture, and Wikipedia, last consulted 18 August 2018.)
[Azay-le-Rideau church from château afternoon 2016 oct 10 f; DSCF0319]