Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Abbey Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii
Reference	230
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1983 (7th Session)

The Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe is located in Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, in Poitou, France.

Description

The Romanesque church was begun in the mid-11th century and contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals which are still in a remarkable state of preservation. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

The cruciform church carries a square tower over its crossing. The transept was built first, then the choir with its ambulatory with five radial chapels in the polygonal apse. In the next building campaign, three bays of the nave were added, the bell tower and its porch, and finally the last six bays of the nave. The bell tower is finished by a fine stone spire more than 80 meters high, added in the 14th century and restored in the 19th century.

The barrel vaulted nave is supported on magnificently-scaled columns with foliate capitals.

Below the church is the crypt of the martyr brothers St Savin and St Cyprian, decorated with frescos depicting scenes from their lives.

Gallery

12th century Romanesque mural (God speaks to Noah)
Fresco, Sts Savinus and Cyprian are tortured

External links

Fully illustrated description of the church (French)

World Heritage Sites in France

Île-de-France	Palace and Park of Versailles Fontainebleau Palace and Park Paris: Banks of the Seine Provins

Parisian basin	Amiens Cathedral Belfries of Belgium and France¹ Bourges Cathedral Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars Chartres Cathedral Climats and terroirs of Burgundy Reims: Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Abbey of Saint-Remi, Palace of Tau Abbey of Fontenay Le Havre Vézelay Church and hill

Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Belfries of Belgium and France¹

East	Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains and Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans Nancy: Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance Strasbourg: Grande Île Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps³

West	Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay

South West	Episcopal city, Albi Port of the Moon, Bordeaux Prehistoric sites and decorated caves of the Vézère Valley Pyrénées: Mont Perdu² Saint-Émilion

Centre East	Chauvet Cave Lyon

Mediterranean	Roman and Romanesque monuments, Arles Carcassonne citadel Gulf of Porto: Calanches de Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble, Avignon Bridge Pont du Gard Orange: Roman Theatre and environs, Triumphal Arch

Multiple regions	Canal du Midi Fortifications of Vauban Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

Overseas departments and territories	Lagoons of New Caledonia Pitons, cirques and remparts of Réunion

¹Shared locally with other region/s and with ²Shared with ³Shared with Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland

Categories

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Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe