St. Pierre's is the Main Street parish church in Caen, right across from the ducal castle. It was begun in the 13th century, Gothic, of course, but finished in the 16th century (they had some wars here in the 14th and 15th centuries), with a chancel that is Renaissance. The church was heavily damaged in the battle for Caen but faithfully rebuilt.
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| View from the castle; the greatest of the Norman towers |
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| Richly decorated southside buttressing |
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| Friendly gargoyles |
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| Nave view |
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| Organ does not fit its environment |
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| Elevation |
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| Chancel; here the vaulting gets fancy |
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| More than life-sized St. Peter, a 3-ton hanging keystone |
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| Chancel vaulting |
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| Transept window |
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| Buttressing outside |
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| Chapel ceiling; the whole east side was like this |
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| Exquisite carving everywhere in the Renaissance part of the church |
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Relatively little carving in the nave, except this one capital, showing: Alexander's
wife whipping Aristotle, Phoenix rising from the ashes, a woman taking down a lion,
and Lancelot crawling across a sword bridge to save Guinevere |
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| Extensive damage to St. Peter's in June/July, 1944 |
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| Famous faces on the west facade |
1 comment:
Interesting, interesting and beautiful church. The gargoyles always fascinate me. These are friendly. Also, note that it is women in the one carving who are dominant, well, except for Guinevere.
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