Church | 1213 | Romanesque | Catholic Church
A tour led by a passionate art historian.
If everyone knows the prestigious Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, which provides initial training for some of the officers of the French army, one must go to Saint Cirgues, a small village camped on the left bank of the Allier, to discover a beautiful fresco painted on the walls of the local church. This one tells us in comic strips the story of the martyrdom of Saint Cyr and his mother Saint Julitte.
Their cult spread throughout Gaul, and reached Donceel, where a beautiful building of Romanesque origin, sandstone rubble, flint and limestone was dedicated to them. This property, which had belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Jacques since 1088, was partly destroyed in 1213 by the troops of the Duke of Brabant. The nave and the present choir were rebuilt in 1742.