"The
Charente in France... where's that?" we asked ourselves when the
invitation for a long exchange in that region arrived. Brittany, Provence, the Loire, even
Burgundy, all the romantic tourist
names, had an established position in our picture of France. But "Le
Charente"...nothing!
Google
answered the basic questions. Very rural, West coast area, no specific great
attractions but with the second sunniest climate after Provence. Juignac, the
nearest village to Le Petit Maine, was almost a non-entity, the ancient village
well perhaps being its most significant feature. But La Charente" was to
be our home in France for almost a year.
The
great advantage of a prolonged stay in the one area is the chance to explore it
in depth. Over eleven months we did just
that and we found wonderful little treasures in our backyard: treasures that
don't figure on tourist itineraries, that don't have large coach parks, and that
sometimes are even in disrepair.
Murals in the Church of Saint Arthemy, Blanzac
Blanzac-Porcheresse,
or locally just Blanzac, is an extremely
nondescript small town about 20 minutes drive from home, population just
over 800. It's clearly a poor commune. A casual traveller simply would see no
reason to even think about stopping over in Blanzac. I go there to play tennis
quite often (yes, I did eventually make contact with a very friendly expat
tennis group). The local club apparently
has withered but the two courts are maintained by someone and always open.
When passing through Blanzac (going somewhere
else) one doesn't actually drive into
the town square; the "main" road from Montmoreau takes one around a corner past a decrepit Tabac, over
the creek and through the potholes and
up past a small shop and out of town. However,
in passing through, as we often did, we had noticed that a rather large church
sits in the town square. Its' L' Eglise Saint Arthemy, " a twelfth century church with Gothic and
Romanesque influences". Saint Arthemy, apparently, was a bishop of the
Arveni Celtic tribe who achieved martyrdom in the 4th century.
Now one
can't be visiting grand sites and spending lots of money every day, can one? So
to relieve the boredom of another cool but sunny day at home, we decide that
today is the day to visit that church in Blanzac and find a quaint cafe for a
coffee.
We push
open the door to Saint Arthemy's church and carefully close it in accordance
with the flapping notice: "Please close the door so the bloody pigeons
can't get in"...or words to that effect. It's musty and dim but we are
amazed to see three huge murals on the right wall of the nave. One is more an
unfinished drawing. The two finished but very faded works here are framed by formed arches. In
the right hand transept chapel are two
lovely murals framed by painted copulas together with many earlier very faded
works. The left transept has matching murals, also under painted copulas. However, the general deterioration of the church is very visible. The
works are stunning but clearly in need of much restoration and preservation.
Your
author understands that it is the responsibility of the commune to maintain any
historic churches in its area if the church is not heritage listed. If the
commune is small then usually it simply does not have the funds for
preservation. So dampness and neglect slowly destroy this priceless legacy.
One can
see that Blanzac has tried but is failing. Sadly, green algae and mould from
rising damp are ever where evident.
In a sombre
mood we leave St Arthemy's church...alas
the Place de St Arthemy is as sleepy as the church. No cafe, no bar open so no
cheery "bonjour monsieur, deux vin rouge SVP" in Blanzac for us today.
The Templars' Legacy in the
Charente
The Templars,
as in the rest of France, had a strong presence in the Charente; Wikipedia
lists 13 "commanderies" in the Department. Commanderies would be built
around a permanent water source and probably comprise as a minimum the monk/
knights' living quarters, prilgrims' house, stables and of course, the
chapel. All that remains on most sites
is a small chapel, perhaps indicating only a modest number of knights in
residence. Twelve of the 13 sites are actually still in use for regular worship,
the 13th is in ruins.
If one
takes the winding lane past the tennis courts in Blanzac and continues out of
town for several kilometres one comes to the wonderfully named Chapelle des Templiers de Cressac-Saint-Genis, perched on a
low hillside. The original commanderie was built over the years
1150-1160; now all that remains is the
chapel. There is still a working well in the church yard. Adjacent to the
chapel is a "modern" farmhouse and garden. On our visit, bushes
bearing beautiful succulent ripe red tomatoes were staked out quite close to
the garden fence. Possibly the ghosts of knights past helped me to resisted the open temptation offered by these
gorgeous fruits!
The glory of this relatively unknown chapel is
its astonishing frescoes still adorning large parts of the interior walls.
During the Revolution the chapel frescoes were partly destroyed and
subsequently the chapel was seized and sold by the new anti-clerical government
and used for centuries as a barn. It is
amazing that that any frescoes survived at all!
Let me show you some of those that did survive.
The frescoes were created in the same style as
the famous Bayeux Tapestry. The fresco narrative apparently tells the story of
the victory in 1163 of Templars and the
rest of the French army over the Saracens, led by Nour Ed Din, at the Krak des
Chevaliers in the Holy Land. Now the French army happened to have been led by
one Geoffroy Martel, brother of the Count of Angoulême. Which does make one
wonder if the choice of subject was, just perhaps, influenced by the fact that Angoulême
and its count were a mere 22 kilometers north-east of the commanderie!
Pilgrims at this Chapel in a show of penitence
and zeal were encouraged to rub their hands down a particular stone in the
wall. The wear marks of the fingers are clearly visible but the blood has long
since been washed away. Perhaps it was a case of "no rub, no grub"!
The chapel was declared an historic monument in
May 1914 and is now owned and regularly
used by the Protestant Reformed Church of Barbezieux.
At
Gurat, a little known "Monolithic Church"
One of our simple pleasures is driving along any
byway or laneway in the countryside that takes our sudden fancy. Driving to
Villebois-Lavalette one day we took a side road that led though the village of
Gurat. On entering Gurat we spied a
small sign pointing to "L'église Monolithic", 100 meters.
"Monolithic church" actually refers
to an underground church that has been carved into a cliff face. A justly
famous example is the magnificent Church of St Jean at Aubeterre-sur-Dronne but
we had never heard of one at this seemingly insignificant village called Gurat.
Down a side road we find a 3-space car park opposite
which is a track wandering away beside a tiny creek we later learn is called
Font Longe, which runs into the nearby River Lizonne, a tributary of the
Dronne. The track and the brook lie at the base of a low rocky cliff atop which
sits the village.
Walking down the track 200 meters we see a
large hole above us in the cliff and a little sign saying: "L'eglaise". The top of this hole is only a meter or so below
the very obvious foundations of a substantial village building. As this has
obviously been the situation for hundreds of years we reason that the
"church" roof is unlikely to fall down on our heads, even though we
have not actually graced a proper church for quite some time!
Clambering up the steep path we find ourselves
on a wide stone ledge into which have been carved fifteen or so sarcophagi,
plus pools and drainage channels. This is the forecourt of the ancient church
of St Georges. The interior is only about 6 metres by 12 metres with support
pillars forming nave, choir and apse. One side tunnel tapers upwards to a crude
wooden gate, chained shut. Behind the gate is a store room and a flight of
steps clearly leading up to the cellar of the building above. We explore all the nooks and wonder about the
monks and villagers who may have called this their parish church.
Wikipedia tells us that the community was at
its height in the 12th and 13th century but why it apparently was never finished and why the
community of monks suddenly dispersed is unclear.
A sign back at the car park informs us that the Commune is working to
enhance the tourist visitor numbers, hoping to encourage perhaps one tenth of
the people who visit Aubeterre to come visit Gurat. Good luck, but I have to
say it's a very big ask indeed.
