Église Notre-Dame de Relanges, church located in Vosges, in France
Église Notre-Dame de Relanges is a Romanesque church built of variegated sandstone, with a square tower rising over the crossing and topped by a steep pyramidal roof. The Romanesque part, from around 1175, comprises the choir, side chapels, transept and tower; the nave and aisles were rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic after a fire in the 16th century. The nave is 37 m long, 14 m wide and 9.5 m high, with five bays and aisles. The semi-circular apse is pierced by three large windows, and the tower's second level carries blind arcades of four round arches on each face.
A Cluniac priory dedicated to Saint Peter was founded around 1030 by Ricuin de Darney and his wife Lancède, so that monks prayed for the souls of the faithful departed; it stood south of the church and nothing of it remains. The church itself was built in the 11th and 12th centuries, with the Romanesque choir, side chapels, transept and tower probably dating to about 1175. After a fire, the nave and aisles were rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic in the 16th century, and the church was classified as a historical monument on 7 August 1899.
The church inherited the role of the Cluniac priory founded around 1030 by Ricuin de Darney and his wife Lancède, whose monks prayed for the souls of the faithful departed. Relanges thus became a centre of the cult of the dead, and the parish church still bears the name Notre-Dame.
The church stands in the village of Relanges, in the Vosges department of the Grand Est region. The building is classified as a historical monument, and the cemetery beside it can be reached on foot from the village lanes. Visitors approach the west façade through a large 11th-century round-arched opening, while the chevet and its three windows are best seen from the surrounding paths.
The Romanesque square tower rises over the crossing in three levels above the transept. Its second level carries, on each face, a blind arcade of four round arches decorated with billet moulding, while the top belfry level was rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic around 1557 after a fire.
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