Église Notre-Dame-la-Riche, Medieval church in Old Tours, France.
Église Notre-Dame-la-Riche stands on Rue Georges-Courteline in the Vieux-Tours quarter. Its western end has a gabled facade with a recessed pointed portal, a traceried window and a rose window; buttresses with pinnacles divide the southern flank, and a slate roof carries a dark lantern-like flèche. Gustave Guérin raised the building and covered it with brick vaults between 1860 and 1866.
Saint Lidoire built a church on the Christian cemetery in the 4th century. A church dedicated to Notre-Dame-la-Pauvre is documented from 920 on the site of Saint Gatien's tomb; the name Notre-Dame-la-Riche appears in 1141. The present church was rebuilt in the 15th century on a smaller plan, sacked by Protestants in 1562, restored before 1570, used to make saltpetre during the Revolution and returned to worship in 1798. Gustave Guérin restored and partly rebuilt it between 1860 and 1866, raising it and covering it with brick vaults.
The five 17th-century statues of the Marriage of the Virgin, with the High Priest, the Virgin, Saint Joseph, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, were carved by the Tours sculptor Antoine Charpentier for the convent of the Minimes near the château de Plessis-lès-Tours, and later brought here. The church keeps 16th-century stained glass, and relics of Saint Francis de Paule are displayed in a reliquary on the north wall.
The church stands on Rue Georges-Courteline in the Vieux-Tours quarter, a short walk from the Loire bridges and the old town centre. The west portal and the south portal were both rebuilt by Gustave Guérin between 1860 and 1866, so either side gives access to the nave. The 16th-century windows and the five statues are inside, where light is dimmest on grey days.
The five 17th-century statues of the Marriage of the Virgin were carved by Tours sculptor Antoine Charpentier for the Minimes convent near the château de Plessis-lès-Tours before reaching this church. The relics of Saint Francis of Paola are kept in a reliquary on the north side wall.
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