The Notre-Dame's Church in Huriel

Old church prieurale and parochial formerly depending on the abbey of Déols, close to Chateauroux, Notre-Dame d' Huriel is a splendid Romance building, dating from the beginning of XIIème century.
In addition to very marked characters, the Notre-Dame church is also distinguished through very original architectural elements: initially, with the cupola with eight sides gone up on pendentive and horns overhanging the transept crossing, and also, with its porch with triple blind arcade (rather rare diagram in Combining it, only three buildings while raising, in particular Châtel-Mountain) surmounted inside by a platform served by a double staircase.

In the shape of Latin cross, Notre-Dame finds its originality through the auvergnates influences, berrichonnes and limousines recognizable in its architecture, influences which are explained by the situation even town of Huriel, with the borders of Auvergne, close to Walk and Berry.

With its simple plan, without sides, its cover framed, the presence of secretariae (small sacristies in segment of a circle wedged between the absidioles and the chorus) and the narrow side passages, called “let us berrichons”, making communicate the nave with the arms of the transept, Notre-Dame points out the religious architecture of Berry.
Characters auvergnats are found on the level of the bell-tower located at transept crossing:  octagonal and massive, cover of shingles out of wooden of chestnut, it points out the bell-towers of major Romance of Auvergne (Saint Nectary, Orcival, etc).
Lastly, with the title of the ornamentation carved of the walls, of the rolls on posts frame the Romance windows, like buildings limousins, as Saint-Léonard-of-Noblat.

The turn-bell-tower

It is decorated with blind arcades plug and rises on the transept crossing. The apse is surmounted by a pinion decorated with a cross with Paschal lamb.

The nave

It is covered out of frame. It does not have the collateral ones. It is lit by windows without decoration. The nave communicates with the pilot wheels of the transept by narrow passages called passages berrichons.

The transept crossing

It is covered with a cupola on an octagonal stage on pendentive. The pilot wheels are arched in cradle and possèsent a absidiole.

Chorus

It includes/understands a right span arched in cradle.

The apse

It is arched in half dome and is lit by three windows. Two small oculi are bored above the half dome. The subjects represented on the capitals are not very distinct. On the right, a rider and its mounting. The windows of the apse are decorated and surmounted by a cord of billets which continues on the absidioles.

The originality of Notre-Dame also arises through its sculpture and its furniture: the external carved decoration is very rich, with a cord of billets which encircles the building almost in its entirety, and on the level of let us modillons and the capitals of the posts which flank the windows, of the abstract elements (interlacing, foliages, chips,…) but also figurative (animal and human heads, small characters).
The capitals of crossing, if they raise of an invoice enough frustrates due to the hardness of the granite employed, are not less interesting, with in particular a twin upward man of that of Châtel-Mountain.

Under furniture, the grid of the wrought iron chorus, realized without any welding nor rivet, is exceptional: in the shape of small volutes, it dates from XIIème-XIIIème century, and is classified “historical object” since 1841.

Romance baptismal tank decorated with reptiles and birds.

In May 2003, two important painted panels were discovered and restored: the first of these frescos date the completion XIVème, and represents St Martin in the episode of Charity… the second, dates from the XVIIème century, and appears an Annunciation.

http://huriel.planet-allier.com/eglise.htm
http://www.art-roman.net/huriel/huriel.htm