Since some of you guys liked the church of Chapaize (many thanks to all!
), I hesitated between uploading another one of it that would show the bell tower, or selecting another Burgundy church. I finally chose the latter.
So, this is the church of the village of Blanot, 161 inhabitants, barely 11 kilometers from Chapaize. It is very old. On the bell tower, you have spotted the
bandes lombardes decoration that tells you “First Romanesque Art, so in Burgundy, that would be around Year 1000 or not long thereafter”. But you also noticed the “gear teeth” decorative motif around the apse, and that is at least a good 100 years before. You see the apparel (the way the stones are arranged), which looks very rough and rustic wherever it is visible under the thick plastering, and you correctly surmise that this church was first erected around 900–950, with the bell tower built of a much better quality (more money and expertise were made available) a few decades later... And indeed, there are traces in writing of a donation of the village and its church by the local lord to the abbey of Cluny in 927, which turned it into a priory.
Blanot is one of the most charming, “roots-like” village churches in all of Burgundy, and extremely valuable for art historians, as aside from the ugly plastering from the 19th century, it remains virtually intact.
The sacristy to the left is more recent, 13th or 14th century.
Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.