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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue439" data-source="post: 829579" data-attributes="member: 53455">The Romanesque church and its keep (2023)The Saint-Restitut parish church in the eponymous village (southeastern France) is unique for a Romanesque church, as its nave is attached at its western end to a square, tall and massive Mediæval defense tower... but let’s begin with the dedication and this bizarre “Restitut” saint.Restitut is, in fact, the blind-born Sidoine (Sidney in English, I assume?) mentioned in the Gospel, who was miraculously healed by Christ. In memory of the recovery of his eyesight, he changed his name to Restitut: Restitutus est ei visus, as the Gospel says in Latin, i.e., “Eyesight is given back to him”. After the death of Christ, Restitut traveled with the members of the Bethany family cast away from the Holy Land on a small boat without sail or oar, which came to shore at the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in southern France. The small group of disciples, which included Mary Magdalene, dispersed and Restitut headed North along the Rhône River to settle and preach in the region which we call today the Drôme Provençale, and more specifically in the low mountains of the Tricastin. Even though, towards the end of his life, Restitut went to Italy where he eventually died, his remains were brought back here.Strangely and unusually enough, the square tower (which is very old: it was most likely built during the first half of the 11th century) was used as a repository for Restitut’s relics. It may even have been built for that very purpose, when such relics were repatriated from Italy. The fact is that, because of the relics, the village and the church became a noted place of pilgrimage radiating beyond the borders of Provence and the Rhône Valley during all of the Middle Ages. The relics were burned and dispersed by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion in the late 16th century.In order to allow the pilgrims to come close to the relics which were kept at the lower level of the square tower, an opening was made into its eastern wall and the church nave, built during the 1100s, was thus attached to it. The entrance into the church was located on the southern side, where the village square was spacious enough for pilgrim circulation.This photograph of the whole southern side of the church. The square tower on the left could have had some defensive/watch function beyond keeping the saint’s relics —arrow slits can be seen here and there.Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.[ATTACH=full]415811[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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