Autry-Issards - Sainte-Trinité

Sainte-Trinité dates back to the early 12th century. It is Romanesque, described as "style bourguignon". The dedication to the Holy Trinity is not very frequent in this period. Autry was part of the convent Montet-aux-Moines (20kms south), itself a priory dependent on Saint-Michel-de-la-Cluse in Piedmont ("Sacra di San Michele" near Turino, Italy).

Later the parish passed under the authority of the Abbess of Saint-Menoux, just a few kilometers north.

The tympanum has two angels holding an "empty" mandorla which surrounds "normally" Christ in glory. It may have been painted - and weathered away. Left and rights are arches with lamps and behind houses and towers. That architecture may stand for the "Heavenly Jerusalem".
The inscription in the triangle above the mandorla reads "PENAS REDDO MALIS PREMA DOD BONIS" = I punish those who do evil I reward thos who do good.

The church, renovated and partly reconstructed in the 19th century, is rather large - Autry-Issards today only has a population of about 350.