The church St Michel in Guard-Adhémar

The borough of the Guard-Adhémar preserved its medieval structure, enclosed in ramparts in edge of a rocky outcrop dominating the plain of Pierrelatte.

This plain was colonized at the Roman time by the veterans of the Roman legions (I th century). Recent archaeological research revealed many traces of human occupation, partly related to a wine activity.

Via Agrippa to the foot Guard passed. Traces of Gallo-Roman habitat are located in the hills. The site of the Valley of the Nymphs, to 2 km of the current perched village, testifies to a worship to the divinities of water and the goddesses mothers.

As much of other churches of the Middle Ages built on heights, the church of the Guard-Adhémar is dedicated to Saint Michel.  The current Church would have been set up at the time of second half of the XII th century.

The first mention of the presence in this place of a vault appears in a bubble of the pope Pascal II of April 24, 1105. It is quoted among the dependences of the Benedictine abbey Saint-Philibert of Tournus, of which it concerned via the monastery the valley of the nymphs.

It became at the beginning of the XII th century parish church, dependent on the abbey of Tournus until 1540, time when the pope Paul III gave it to the chapter of the collegiate church of Grignan, which perceived the incomes until the Revolution of them.

It was restored in 1849 and 1850 thanks to Mérimée, then inspector of the historic buildings.
By its style, this church belongs to the Romance school of Provence which, by the play of the historical conditions, is related at the Rhénane school, Provence belonging to the Saint Worsens Romain Germanique.

This building of modest dimensions astonishes by verticality by its lines not stopped by cornices. The two collateral ones, arched in quadrants, are used as buttresses. One can notice his Western apse, particularly rare architectural detail. Generally indeed, the apse is located in direction of the East.
The Interior basilical with two spans does not have a transept.

Slim but small proportions: 3m 70 for the width of the spans. In all, 22 meters by 20 on the ground, the nave rising with 14 meters.

the stones of construction carry many concise signs, frequent marks of the maitres of work and companions. “Peturs” is most visible.

The bell-tower has two stages of arcades surmounted by a pyramid with 8 sides pointing out the "style clunisien" building, which had to the monks Benedictines. In 1849, there remained only the first stage and the base of the second.

The high part of the bell-tower, the second stage and the octagonal pyramid which surmounts it are creations of the XIX th century, by the Questel architect who took as a starting point an identical model with that that the bell-tower of the major church of Borough-Saint-Andéol represented. Also, when after the bombardments of 1944, one wanted to restore the bell-tower of seriously damaged Borough-Saint-Andéol, the architects had only to recopy that of the Guard-Adhémar.

The two apses are opposite, which is rare in France and finds itself practically only in the old monuments of the edges of the Rhine. The Eastern apse in hemicycle is framed by two absidioles, all the three arched in half dome.

One can notice the barrel vault broken on beams of the first two spans, the cupola with 8 sides on conical horns of the last span.

On the left of the entry, a truncated column that the old ones raised on the tombs, called “cippe funerary”. One reads there the letters D and M which must mean “Diis Manibus”, “with the gods manes”. It was discovered in the valley of the nymphs.

On the right, a vestige of Gallo-Roman votive pagan furnace bridge carries the inscription “Matris Nymphis”, which means “with the mothers nymphs”.

An altar stone to the sacrifices profiled on its 4 sides, was found in the valley of the nymphs where it was used a long time as furnace bridge for the catholic worship. It is used now as principal furnace bridge.

Outside, a plank seems me to represent the number of subsoil water currents as well as thetelluric ones and the faults.

The virgin with the child, of style auvergnat, out of wood, date probably of the XI th century. It was discovered a few years ago by the abbot Silhol, priest of the village, in his own church, whereas it was dissimulated under embroidered clothes, crowns and the term of Holy Anne.

The statue spent long centuries venerated by the monks of the abbey of Aiguebelle. But with the revolution, a monk walled the statue in a niche, preventing which it does not undergo the sad fate reserved for the virgin of Le Puy for example.

It was to re-examine the day only with the XX th century. After its rediscovery, the abbey of Aiguebelle made of it gift with the abbot Girard, priest of the Guard-Adhémar, in 1944. The good priest could only make some. He already had in his church a beautiful statue of the virgin, polychrome, of the XVI th century, venerated by his parishioners: Notre-Dame of the valley of the nymphs. It wondered one moment if the new statue, Notre-Dame of the mercy, were not going to carry wrong to that which was already in place since strong a long time.

On the other hand, the church did not have a statue of Holy Anne, mother of Marie. Mister the priest eliminated the rival in an elegant and not very banal way. He equipped the statue with wood with ornaments of "saint-Sulpicien"style , Sainte Anne baptized it and issued that the Jesus child could honourably represent the Virgin Mary child. It placed under pane the statue and made register below: “Holy Anne request for us”.

The abbot Silhol, the current priest, is an enlightened art lover. Intrigued by this strange Sainte Anne, it was to discover the truth and to note with amazement which it was in the presence of a fort beautiful testimony of the Romanesque art. (article of Olivier Tightens.)

This statue has several of the characteristics of the black virgins. Within sight of the length of his hands, of his sitting position on the cathèdre, of the date of his “birth”, his proportions, I think that it good fleure the under-ground Lady… The place from where it comes is a magic place also, with or without its black virgin. I will make the article of it later. To announce: the virgin of the valley of the nymphs was stolen in 2006…

Under the church, with the feet of cliff, a garden of simple was arranged. Surprised: a waste-gas main source nicely, taken care by a fauna. During nymphs of the valley?

On the other side of the hill, other sources spout out, like that which attracted my glance while passing.

It feeds the laundrette a little low, where some old stones are embedded in the wall. The interior of the fountain impressed me much. Still a place where water becomes crowned…

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~celine/lga/la_garde-adhemar.html
http://www.la-garde-adhemar.com/historique.htm
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Garde-Adh%C3%A9mar
http://pmarecha.free.fr/roman/tricastin.htm