Southern Burgundy Romanesque ChurchesGourdon

From the outside the church in Gourdon looks like many of the other Romanesque Churches in the region, high square bell tower, thick walls supported by buttresses and a simple design with the only curves in the half circled apse.

It’s the inside where Gourdon shines and you can see its treasures. In the apse you will find a number of Romanesque frescos discovered in 1940 and restored during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Not all the frescos survived but the ones that did offer a glance into Romanesque painting that you can’t often find.

The frescos include Christ in Majesty in the center of the apse. On the upper walls of both sides of the apse you will find frescos of the apostles going towards Christ in the center. Below, also on both sides of the walls are a nativity scene, Christ between two pilgrims of Emmaus and Eagle of St John next to Christ. Each of the bottom frescos are inside arches. As the apse gets good national lighting (rare for a Romanesque church) the frescos are easy to look at and admire.

Also inside the church are a number of carved capitals on the column supporting of the arches in the nave. The figures include animals, humans and other unknown creatures in a variety of poses and actions.

The church in Gourdon is devoted to the Assumption of Our Lady and was constructed during the late 11th and early12th centuries.

Gourdon is off the D980 road about a 45 minute drive from the A6 Autoroute, exit Tournus. As Gourdon sits on a hill it offers a nice views of the local countryside. There are also a number of other nearby Romanesque Churches, Mont-Saint-Vincent, Genouilly and Saint-Clément-sur-Guye.

Related Link:
Église Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, Gourdon

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