Martin M. Miles' photos

population of about 1500. Saint Martin is the large parish church of Gensac-la-Pallue. It is unknown, who financed this church, when it was erected within the 12th century (the choir and tower were added a century later) and there are no obvious connections to one of the important abbeys of the area, but for a parish church, built on swampy grounds, this is a pretty prestigious structure. Saint-Martin has an extraordenary western facade, that is basically typical for the Saintonge with the two blind arches, flanking the central portal. But not many churches in the Poitou have three (!) horizontal registers/levels with a kind of rythm: 3 arches, topped by 5 arches, topped by 6 arches. There are no carved archivolts, but a long frieze-like band extending over the facade. Two large mandorla-carvings are symmetrically placed. On the left side the Virgin, on the right St. Martin Of Tours, seen as the bishop holding a crozier. Both are surrounded by angels.

Gensac-la-Pallue is a small town (10kms southeast of Cognac) with a population of about 1500. Saint Martin is the large parish church of Gensac-la-Pallue. It is unknown, who financed this church, when it was erected within the 12th century (the choir and tower were added a century later) and there are no obvious connections to one of the important abbeys of the area, but for a parish church, built on swampy grounds, this is a pretty prestigious structure.

Notre-Dame de l’Assomption was the church of the Augustinian "Abbey of Châtre". The church, that today is completey isolated, surrounded by fields and meadows, was erected in the 12th century. During the Wars of Religion the abbey, that actually was a collegiate of Augustinian canons, got ruined. After the French Revolution the buildings were declared national property and sold as "Bien national". Most of the buildings got dismanteled, but the church survived. Just east of the apse is this ruin.

Notre-Dame de l’Assomption was the church of the Augustinian "Abbey of Châtre". The church, that today is completey isolated, surrounded by fields and meadows, was erected in the 12th century. During the Wars of Religion the abbey, that actually was a collegiate of Augustinian canons, got ruined. After the French Revolution the buildings were declared national property and sold as "Bien national". Most of the buildings got dismanteled, but the church survived.

Notre-Dame de l’Assomption was the church of the Augustinian "Abbey of Châtre". The church, that today is surrounded by fields, was erected in the 12th century. During the Wars of Religion the abbey, that actually was a collegiate of Augustinian canons, got ruined. After the French Revolution the buildings were declared national property and sold as "Bien national". Most of the buildings got dismanteled, but the church survived - and the western facade even got cleaned and renovated recently. There are some sophisticated carvings in the typical style of the Saintonge. Here is one of the capitals.

Notre-Dame de l’Assomption was the church of the Augustinian "Abbey of Châtre". The church, that today is surrounded by fields, was erected in the 12th century. During the Wars of Religion the abbey, that actually was a collegiate of Augustinian canons, got ruined. After the French Revolution the buildings were declared national property and sold as "Bien national". Most of the buildings got dismanteled, but the church survived - and the western facade, seen here, even got cleaned and renovated recently. The church is open for visitors only on sundays, so it was locked, when we arrived.

The single nave parish church in the center of Saint-Brice was erected in the 12th century, but got enlarged and modified later. The choir was added a century later, the nave got remodeled within the 15th century. The large triangular false gable looks - somehow strange.

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here. Since 20 years, Cognac is known as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks. These nights are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. Nomadic Massive, a hip-hop group from Montreal (Canada), entered the stage and thrilled the jumping audience. Great sound! Looked like Nomadic Massive is rather a music collective than a music band.

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here. Since 20 years, Cognac is known as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks. These nights are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. Nomadic Massive, a hip-hop group from Montreal (Canada), entered the stage and thrilled the jumping audience. Great sound! Looked like Nomadic Massive is rather a music collective than a music band. Here is the sound: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP_fGEyWld0

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here. Since 20 years, Cognac is known as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks. These nights are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. Nomadic Massive, a hip-hop group from Montreal (Canada), entered the stage and thrilled the jumping audience. Great sound! Looked like Nomadic Massive is rather a music collective than a music band.

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here an exported (meanwhile) worldwide. Since 20 years, Cognac is known as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks. These nights are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. Nomadic Massive, a hip-hop group from Montreal (Canada), entered the stage and thrilled the jumping audience. Great sound! Looked like Nomadic Massive is rather a music collective than a music band. Here is the sound: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP_fGEyWld0

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here an exported (meanwhile) worldwide. Since 20 years, Cognac is know as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks (!). They are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. "cagouilles" are escargots (snails), "huîtres" are oysters. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W9S61YfL-A

Cognac is known for Cognac, as since the 16th century special brandy named after the town, is produced here an exported (meanwhile) worldwide. Since 20 years, Cognac is know as well for the "Fête du Cognac", three long balmy summer nights, filled with music, food and drinks (!). The nights are made possible with the support of hundreds of volunteers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W9S61YfL-A

Saint-Pierre of today is a fortified church dating back to the 12th century. It replaced a small chapel, that existed here since 989. The Romanesque facade got remodeled a couple of times over the centuries, but there are still many great carvings and sculptures. Along the nave are some capitals, created in the typical style saintongeais.

Saint-Pierre of today is a fortified church dating back to the 12th century. It replaced a small chapel, that existed here since 989. The Romanesque facade got remodeled a couple of times over the centuries, but there are still many great carvings and sculptures. Along the nave are some capitals, created in the typical style saintongeais. Here snakes whisper sinful tales into the men's ears, who hold them.

Saint-Pierre of today is a fortified church dating back to the 12th century. It replaced a small chapel, that existed here since 989. The Romanesque facade got remodeled a couple of times over the centuries, but there are still many great carvings and sculptures. Along the nave, here seen from the gallery, are some capitals, created in the typical style saintongeais.

Saint-Pierre of today is a fortified church dating back to the 12th century. It replaced a small chapel, that existed here since 989. The Romanesque facade got remodeled a couple of times over the centuries, but there are still many great carvings and sculptures. One of the corbels has this nice love couple.

Saint-Pierre of today is a fortified church dating back to the 12th century. It replaced a small chapel, that existed here since 989. The Romanesque facade got remodeled a couple of times over the centuries, but there are still many great carvings and sculptures. The two tiers have virtues and vices (most are lost) and below are the twelve apostles with Mary in the center. Here all statues have lost their heads. I found the info, that the decapitation took place 1848, more than half a century after the Revolution. Strange! Here is one the head of a virtue, one of the very few, that survived the furor.