ROMANESQUE ART IN SOUTHERN MANCHE: ALBUM

MARIE LEBERT

WITH PHOTOS BY ALAIN DERMIGNY AND CLAUDE RAYON

[Author's note: Please forgive my mistakes in English, if any. My mother tongue isFrench. This album is also available in French, with the title "Artroman dans le Sud-Manche: Album (2)". Click on each thumbnail image tosee its larger version.]

001. In this album, there are no monuments described in all touristicguides. On the contrary, these twelve Romanesque churches are littleknown. They are located in Southern Manche, that is to say in thesouthern part of the department of Manche, in Normandy, along the coastor in the countryside. These churches were built in the 10th, 11th and12th century by villagers and parishioners, with local stones - schistand granite - on the medieval roads used by pilgrims to reach MontSaint-Michel, their final destination after travelling for many months.

002. Southern Manche. The map of the region. From north to south, theseblue spots show the churches of Saint-Martin-le-Vieux, Bréville,Yquelon, Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, Angey, Saint-Jean-le-Thomas, Dragey,Genêts, Saint-Léonard-de-Vains, Saint-Loup andSaint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme, without forgetting the beautiful Romanesquegate in Sartilly. This map was digitized by Georges Cercel.

003. Southern Manche. An old map of the region. This region hasbelonged to Cotentin for its northern part and Avranchin for itssouthern part. The limit between Cotentin and Avranchin is the smallriver Thar, that flows into the Channel at the south of Granville. Inthe Middle Ages, this region was rich, with more people living on thecoast than inside the land. The economic life was active, withfisheries, salines near Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal, Bréville andSaint-Léonard-de-Vains, pitch sand and kelp used as fertilizers, and anumber of intensive cultures. This old map belongs to the collection ofthe city library in Granville. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-02]

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