Notre-Dame, Romanesque church in Gennes-Val-de-Loire, France
Notre-Dame de Cunault is a Romanesque and Gothic collegiate church in the village of Cunault, part of the commune of Gennes-Val-de-Loire in the Loire Valley. It has a long three-aisle nave held up by rows of stone columns topped with carved capitals.
Benedictine monks fleeing Norman raids established a priory here in the 11th century and began building the church. Construction continued into the 13th century, which is why the building carries traces of more than one building period.
The carved stone capitals along the nave show scenes from medieval life and Christian symbolism that visitors can read like a picture book. No two capitals are the same, so walking slowly down the nave reveals something new at each column.
The church sits in the small village of Cunault, right along the road that follows the Loire, and is easy to reach on foot. The interior is well lit, but a morning visit lets natural light bring out the stone details most clearly.
The church still has an original medieval wooden door reinforced with iron straps, preserved at the entrance. Doors from that period in such good condition are very rarely found in France.
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