11 juin 2007
Church Saint-Julien in Meillers
This
church was built between 1180 and 1248. it was located on the
châtellenie Bourbon and depended on évéché on Bourges. It was placed
under the term of Julien Saint and depended on the priory of
bénédictines of the abbey of Saint-Menoux.
It
is a Romance building whose apse is in hemicycle, the chorus of two
spans and the nave of three spans. The low sides were built at the time
of one second countryside at the time Romance. The two vaults joined
with the southern frontage were added with the XIXème century, and the
northern vault in XVème.
The
gate of the church is famous for the decoration of the capitals which
crown the columns on both sides entry. They are decorated animeaux
musicians: a playing lion of the hurdy-gurdy and a playing ass of the
toothing-stone, inspired by the ancient fabulist Phèdre.
The
tympanum of the gate introduces in its blessing center a Christ,
surrounded by a mandorle supported by two angels and sheltered of a
platform in the shape of arc of mitre covered with overlaps. On each
side, under the arcades in semicircular arch, five apostles are carved.
It misses Judas and Thomas, two more important in the esoteric
tradition of Christianity to my direction (that which Jesus liked and
his/her twin brother). This tympanum makes me think of that of the
church of Thuret. These two churches present strong similarities at my
direction.
The
Hartmann network was geared down in front of the pillars on each side
of the church. On the western frontage, at height of face, a star with
8 branches presents a hole in its center. It is here, in my opinion,
that the visit begins… In front of the porch, a magic square. A rider
with head of cock then this same rider without its mounting which seeks
with maitriser an animal with head of cock, legs of bull, wings of
eagle…
An acrobat, outside, shows us the reversal of the initiate.
The
bell-tower of barlong plan (longer on a side) which dominates the
Eastern span of the nave, presents two bored bay stages in semicircular
arch separated by twin posts. The small ones let us modillons (small
projecting parts) support the base of the short octogonal stone arrow
whose plans, corresponding to the angles of the bell-tower, are
connected with him by triangular slopes.
The
nave behaves of three spans whose cradle is higher than the vault of
the chorus. the sides were completed at one later period.
With
the reverse of the frontage, the capitals of the two large imbedded
columns are pointed out by the interlacings which decorate them.
In the east and the west, the vault is pressed on two arcs which correspond to consoles decorated with masks.
Several
figures are located under the pillars of the bell-tower whose symbolism
appears quite mysterious. They should for my opinion be seen as a whole
to find the key of the enigma.
The chorus, arched in cradle semicircular arch and bottom of furnace, was restored. Two pillars date from Xème century.
In the southern side, a stone virgin carved in 1687. But the treasure is not yet there.
The virgin of Meillers
One
arrives at the northern vault by a narrow passage at the top of which
one notices the escutcheon of a family of Meillers. (obvious druidic
symbolic system, with Cernunnos, the oak and the star).
There is Notre-Dame de Meillers, black virgin bourbonnaise and one of oldest, made in the tradition auvergnate.
it
is out of strengthened wood, and still carries traces of polychromy.
Cut in walnut tree, it is 0,87 meters high. Only the virgin is of time,
her hands, the seat and the child was brought back.
It is splendid, and in spite of its restorations, still goes to wonder.
An address if you want more on the way of building a Romance church:
http://eglisedemeillers.chez-alice.fr/