Castelviel - L'église Notre-Dame

This church, in the center of an old graveyard, dates back to the 12th century. The apse is dated ca. 1130. The portal, seen here was created 1150/1160. The church got modified a couple of times over the century - and restored within the 19th century.

Léo Drouyn, regional artist, collegue of Viollet-le-Duc and rediscoverer of the Romanesque art, described these arches as the "most beautiful pieces of Romanesque sculpture within the department". Two structures have surely influenced the masters, working in Castelviel. These are the former abbeys "Saint-Maurice de Blasimon" and "La Sauve-Majeure", both not far away.

This portal is done in a typical style, found in the Gironde, the Saintonge and the Poitou, carved from a soft, white stone. They seem in general influenced by Roman triumphal arches, of which some have survived in the area (eg Saintes). There is no tympanum, but many, many semicircular archivolts.