Église Saint-Pierre de Champagne, Medieval church in Champagne, France.
Église Saint-Pierre de Champagne is a Romanesque church in Champagne, Ardèche, with a chevet resembling that of Saint-Chef Abbey. Its ambulatory lacks radiating chapels, and the transept ends have high chapels above apsidioles with rectangular towers. The nave is covered by cupolas on squinches, one dome spanning two bays.
The earliest written record of this church appears in 1088, mentioned in a papal bull issued by Urban II regarding the authority of the church of Vienne. This suggests the building held religious importance during that period.
The church serves both as the village's parish church and as an abbey church, hosting baptisms, weddings and funerals. Until the Revolution, Champagne belonged to the Dauphiné although it stood on the right bank of the Rhône, and papal bulls from 1088 to 1157 repeatedly affirmed the archbishops of Vienne's authority over it.
The church stands in the village of Champagne, on the right bank of the Rhône in the Ardèche, and serves both as abbey church and parish church, so baptisms, weddings and funerals are still held there. The west façade still shows the trace of a square tower-porch demolished in 1848, and the upper part of that tower came down in 1749. Look for the reused 11th-century capitals with palmettes, survivors of the earlier church on the site.
The cupolas spanning the central nave follow an uncommon design inspired by Notre-Dame du Puy Cathedral. This unusual feature sets the building apart from typical Romanesque structures in the region.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,299 contributors worldwide.