The Medieval Town and Castle of Loches - Part 2

Our next stop as we toured the Cité Médiévale was the Collegiate Church of St. Ours.

Here is a photo of the exterior of the church. Please note that this is not a photo I took, but rather one I downloaded from a website. I'm not sure how this picture was taken, as there was no way I could have been able to get this view when we were there. I'm going to assume that it was taken from a location we did not have access to during our visit.

The Collegiate Church of St. Ours was originally founded in 962 A.D., but what you see in it's current form dates from the 12th century. Among the church's distinguishing architectural features are the twin hollow octagonal pyramids covering the nave, as seen in the photo above.

Here's Cindy and her mom approaching the entrance.

Once you step through the entrance, you find yourself in the vestibule where you can make a donation and/or dip your finger(s) in the holy water fount (though it's not really a fountain, just a stone bowl with still water).

Beyond the vestibule is the main hall or nave.

And at the far end is the altar area.

To the left (as you're facing the altar area) is a smaller vestibule containing the marble tomb of Agnes Sorel. You'll find her fascinating story here and here.

Looking up into one of the hollow octagonal pyramids from the floor of the main hall.

On the way out of the church, against my advice, Cindy wanted to dip her fingers into the Holy Water. I snapped the photo below just as her hand started smoking and then I high-tailed it out of the vestibule before it filled with thick, black smoke.

Next post: The Medieval Town and Castle of Loches - Part 3