Blois-Vienne Church

Blois-Vienne Church (Église Saint-Saturnin de Blois in French) is a Roman Catholic church located on the left bank of the Loire river in the city of Blois, France.

Blois-Vienne Church St. Saturnin Church of Blois
Blois-Vienne Church
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Diocese of Blois
Rite	Roman
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Church
Status	Active
Location
Location	Blois, France
Geographic coordinates	47°34′55″N 1°20′16″E
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Flamboyant Gothic
Groundbreaking	c. 1500 (1500)
Completed	1528 (1528)

It was originally built between circa 1500 and 1528. The edifice is in the late Flamboyant Gothic style.^[1]

Its west side is oriented to one of the 4 last churchyards in France: Saint Saturnin's Churchyard.

History

Origins

Between the 10th and 11th centuries, a Catholic church was established in Vienne-lez-Blois, on the left bank of the Loire, right in front of the town center of Blois, located at the present-day 13 rue Munier. Firstly known as St. Saturnin church, since the parish was dedicated to St. Saturnin of Toulouse,^[2] its name changed several times afterwards: St. Germain of Vienne church in 1326, then St. Cernin church in 1391, and finally St. Cerny church in 1449.^[3][4]

Site of pilgrimage

Since its establishment, the successive Blois-Vienne churches have always been modest buildings. It was also located on one of the pilgrimage routes of the Way of St James. During the Middle Ages, Vienne was one the favored transit points for those pilgrims walking on the Tours Route (on the Via Turonensis starting in Paris and passing next to the Loire river).^[5]

However, during the 15th and 16th centuries, it became an important place of worship. It is said that Viennese boatmen discovered a statue of Mary in the Loire river, next to La Creusille Harbor, and that they were the first in the church to implore her help. During this period, a custom was established in Bloisian of going to pray to Vienne-lez-Blois Church to the “Our Lady of Assistance” (Notre-Dame des Aydes in French).^[6]

Construction

Over the centuries, the church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. This was due to fires and storms that ravaged the church on several occasions. However, after each destruction, there has had a reconstruction and new developments.

The construction of the current church was ordered by Queen Anne of Brittany a few years after 1499, when she married newly King Louis XII who was established in Blois.^[7] However, this was interrupted when she died in 1514.^[8] A reconstruction project was set up in the early 16th century but remained unfinished. However, this project led to new developments in the church: a gallery cemetery was created between 1515 and 1520, as well as a chapel in 1528.

During the French Wars of Religion, Protestants set fire to the building's framework in 1568.^[9] A new reconstruction project changed the entire style of the church with the creation of ribbed vaults between 1570 and 1578.^[10]

A violent storm broke out on June 8, 1678, and destroyed the bell tower.^[11]

After the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th century, works were resumed but interrupted by the Terror. During this period, the revolutionaries ransacked many religious premises in Blois, including St. Saturnin in Vienne, to stop “superstition and fanaticism”. In the process, the parish lost a large part of its paintings, wooden statues and doors, which were burnt.^[12]

Modern era

Since 1807, the cemetery is not used anymore, and has been converted into a lapidary museum since 1934.

During the Loire river floods of 1856, the church was inundated, but not in 1846, neither in 1866.

The overall edifice was listed as a historical monument by order of July 11, 1942.

Gallery

• 
  West front of the church
• 
  Stained glass window of the invocation to “Our Lady of Assistance” to save the suburb of Vienne from flooding in 1866
• 
  Stained glass window of the coronation of “Our Lady of Assistance”
• 
  Diptych of St Peter and St Clement
• 
  Stained glass window of Sacred Heart in Art Deco style

• 
  Statue of Joan of Arc
• 
  Statue of “Our Lady of Assistance”
• 
  Baptismal font with gallows baptistery
• 
  Ex-voto of the bridge destruction
• 
  St Anne chapel

References

1. "Saint-Saturnin church and churchyard". blois.fr. 2022.
2. Chanoine Joseph Chapeau (1931). Les gloires de Notre-Dame des Aydes de Vienne-Lez-Blois : son histoire, son culte, son pèlerinage (in French).
3. Pascal Nourrisson (2005). Blois : Dictionnaire des noms de rue (in French). p. 239. ISBN 2-85443-433-1.
4. Annie Cosperec (1994). Blois : la forme d'une ville (in French). p. 406. ISBN 2-11-081322-9.
5. On the Blois City Official Website (2022). "La Creusille Harbour". blois.fr.
6. Pascal Nourrisson (2005). Blois : Dictionnaire des noms de rue (in French). p. 239. ISBN 2-85443-433-1.
7. On the Blois City Official Website (2022). "St Saturnin Church and Churchyard". blois.fr.
8. Annie Cosperec (1994). Blois : la forme d'une ville (in French). p. 406. ISBN 2-11-081322-9.
9. Annie Cosperec (1994). Blois : la forme d'une ville (in French). p. 406. ISBN 2-11-081322-9.
10. Pascal Nourrisson (2005). Blois : Dictionnaire des noms de rue (in French). p. 239. ISBN 2-85443-433-1.
11. Pascal Nourrisson (2005). Blois : Dictionnaire des noms de rue (in French). p. 239. ISBN 2-85443-433-1.
12. Annie Cosperec (1994). Blois : la forme d'une ville (in French). p. 406. ISBN 2-11-081322-9.