Saint John's Baptistry, Poitiers

Saint John's Baptistry (Fr. Baptistère Saint-Jean) in Poitiers is an ancient Christian monument which dates back to the second half of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century. Much altered over the centuries it is a building which demonstrates better than any other both the links between antiquity and Merovingian architecture, and their abandonment of classical principles.

 

Christ in Majesty fresco.

Saved from demolition in 1834 it has seen numerous archaeological digs and been the subject of many controversial theories. Since 1750 the building has divided those who believe it to be a Christian edifice, and those who favour a pagan origin. As a result it also serves to demonstrate the evolution of archaeology and its limits, from romantic and intuitive art history to the establishment of technical models.

The interest and the work undertaken on the building seems to show the will to safeguard this strong symbol of the Christian presence in the city since Antiquity. After the Revolution, saved from destruction, it became the object of scientific research, as well as being important cultural heritage.

 

Baptismal pool.

Situated in a district that was occupied from the 1st century by dwellings and tradesmen, little by little the area was transformed in the 4th century. The development of the town pushed the centre of spiritual power to the north, on the edge of the ancient town limits. A cathedral complex was constructed during the second half of the 4th century. At the moment when towns were christianising, the cathedral and the baptistry became indispensible.

The current building was constructed in the 5th century, over a baptismal room, to the east of the early cathedral.

 

Interior.

The baptistry was altered throughout the 6th and 7th centuries. Originally it was just a large rectangular room with a small annex to the east. The original design is not very typical of baptistries. There is a central baptismal pool which is fed by water through lead pipes, and emptied via a terracotta drain into a soak away.

In the 6th century the baptistry interior was divided into two by a wall, and two rectangular apses added. They went on to become trapezoidal, then semi-circular. 

 

 Frescoes.

We don't know how high the bapistry originally was, but it was raised in the first half of the 7th century and three annexes in front of the building were demolished. Windows were replaced by oculi and the interior dividing wall was decorated with three arches. Then the roof profile was modified and gables added.

In 1018 a fire ravaged the city and damaged a large part of the cathedral complex. A new cathedral in the Romanesque style was constructed to the north.

 

 Lapidary collection.

In the Carolignian era, when baptism no longer required immersion, the baptistry was turned into a church. The first mention of  the baptistry in the written records is not until 1096, and then it is not mentioned again until 1450, when a request is made to repair it as it is in very bad condition.

The wall paintings were added in the 11th and 13th centuries.

 

Baptistry front entry.

In modern times the baptistry was a tiny parish church, with 25 parishioners taking communion. Births, deaths and marriages were only recorded from 1638 onwards. The church was deconsecrated in 1791 and the building put up for sale as seized State Goods, but there was no buyer because of its delapidated condition. It remained the property of the State, and became a soup kitchen. In 1820 the space was taken over by a bell foundry and they used the baptismal pool, with a bit of modification, as a bell mould. In the early 19th century a big road building project to improve access to the city threatened the little baptistry, but its cause was championed by several learned societies, and it was saved. It is still managed by one of those societies, the Antiquarians Society of the West.

There have been a dozen archaeological digs on the site since the early 19th century. In 1803 the octagonal baptismal pool was discovered. The more recent studies have concentrated on the exterior.

 

Baptistry side view.

Stylish Street Lights

When we were in Prissac a couple of weeks ago we didn't notice the stylish street lighting, but Susan did take a photo of them coincidentally.

It wasn't until I was looking on Streetview that I realised how good they were - kind of stylised medieval torch.

I like interesting street furniture, especially when proper thought has gone into it.

The Loches Coat of Arms

The Loches town coat of arms (Fr. blason) is three fleur de lys and six fish. It is to say the least, aquatic.

The coat of arms of a town can tell you a lot about its origins.

The lilies refer to the chateau, stormed and taken by Philippe-Auguste on three occasions, and remaining in crown hands from the time of Saint Louis. The river fish that are referred to as 'loches' naturally come to mind to evoke the name of the town.

The word 'loches' comes from 'lucca' or 'lokka' meaning ditch or lagoon. Also, in the Celtic language, 'luc', 'leuc' and 'lug' (pronounced 'loc'h') signifies enclosed water or marsh. Loches is in fact surrounded by water meadows created out of the old drained marshes.

Today the coat of arms is seen decorating the municipal vehicles, on tourist guide booklets and street flags.

What Flags Should Fly?

There has been a bit of chuntering in the past few years about French town halls' right to fly foreign nations flags alongside the uncontroversial French, European Union or regional ones.

Ukrainian flags went up on the majority of town halls as soon as the full scale invasion started. More recently and more controversially, Palestinian flags have been appearing, and occasionally, Israeli flags, albeit on a more limited scale.

 

 Loches Town Hall (Fr. Hôtel de Ville) flying the Ukrainian and French flags.

But town halls are supposed to abide by a principle of neutrality when providing public services. Several times individual local authorities have been challenged in the courts over the flags they've chosen to fly. These challenges are always treated on a case by case basis, and don't always result in similar outcomes.

There is no law requiring any flag at all be displayed, not even the French flag. So any flag must pass the test of being considered politically and religiously neutral if it is being displayed by a public body. Everyone's freedom of conscience and dignity must be respected, all citizens must be treated equally no matter what their convictions.

In cases that have gone to court over the flying of Ukranian flags the judgements have been that it is not an infringement of neutrality, but a demonstration of solidarity, with a nation that has been the victim of agression. Palestinian flags are allowed in situations where the flag is flown for a short time, also to express humanitarian solidarity with the victims in Gaza. These temporary flags, and those on town halls where there are no complaints, are tolerated. Some town halls habitually fly flags for specific occasions eg the Olympics, Pride Week.

Buy Local Honey

If you want to support your local economy and ensure you are buying a quality product produced by someone who cares about the environment, then buy honey directly from your local small scale apiarist. In France, look for the wording on the label which says 'Récolté et mis en pot en France' ('Harvested and potted in France'). Reject honey that says 'Miel d'origine UE' ('Honey from the EU') or worse, 'Miel d'origine hors UE' ('Honey from outside the EU').

 

Chestnut honey and forest honey, from two different Loire Valley apiarists.

Why buy local honey? Beekeepers themselves will sometimes spout a load of nonsense about how you are helping endangered pollinators and biodiversity, but this is rarely true [see my post about 'The Trouble With Honey Bees]. What you are doing though is contributing to a circular, short distance economy, helping it to be resilient, durable and if necessary, reactive. 

 

Buckwheat honey.

You will also be getting a much more interesting range of flavour profiles than anything in the supermarket, which is nearly always blended on an industrial scale, not single source. You will quickly learn how to tell honey produced in the spring (pale, floral, very sweet) from honey produced in the autumn (dark, fruity, with a touch of bitterness to balance the sweetness). Then you can learn the differences between linden (Fr. tilleul), robinia (Fr. acacia), sunflower (Fr. tournesol), buckwheat (Fr. sarrasin), chestnut (Fr. chataigner), heather (Fr. bruyère), canola (Fr. colza) and buckthorn (Fr. bourdaine). I've even had carrot honey from one apiarist!

 

 Linden honey.

Cheap honey is always adulterated with syrup. If it is imported it has been through several hands, all with the opportunity of cutting it to make more profit. It has been transported long distances and has thus contributed to air pollution and greenhouse gases. 

 

A swarm of honey bees in a bush.

I recommend visiting your local apiarist and buying direct from their shed. Ask if they will show you around -- usually they are delighted to show you how they work and to talk about honey bees. And now that you know them, you will have someone to call when one day a swarm of bees takes up residence in your peach tree (or whatever, in your garden...). Your apiarist friend will come and collect them, and thank you for calling them.

 

Bernard the apiarist, showing Joy and me inside a hive.

If you can't make it to your beekeeper's shed, buy from them at your village market. You can still have a chat about the bees, their work and the honey, and they'll still come and gather up the swarm in your garden if you ask them.

My personal preference is for the dark strong autumnal honeys like chestnut. I'm not overly impressed by 'acacia', which is the most popular honey in France. But at least in France there is an expectation that you take food seriously and treat it respectfully, hence people knowing what the different varieties of honey are like, just as they know what the different varieties of strawberries or apples are like. Honey is not just honey in France.

Three W's

Not all of our photos are masterpieces. I know when these photos were taken. I know where these photos were taken. But I have no idea why these photos were taken.

I took all three - it's interesting that they're all railway related, but they're probably not interesting per se.

Merovingian Sarcophagi in Poitiers

The Society of Antiquarians of the West and the City of Poitiers considered that the Baptistry of Saint John was an appropriate place to keep their collection of Merovingian sarcophagi and the State agreed. In 1838 the Baptistry became the Museum of Antiquities of the West and was opened to the public. 

Most of the sarcophagi were added to the collection in 1885, and come from Vienne and Deux-Sèvres, dating from the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries. The intention had originally been that they should go to the Museum of French Monuments in Paris, but the transfer never happened.

So the little Baptistry is blessed with a rich and extensive collection of Merovingian sarcophagi. Many of them are decorated with the three barred cross in the Poitevin style. Scholars are still debating what this symbol means. Does it stand for the Trinity, or is it purely decorative? A few rarer pieces have zoomorphic or anthropomorphic decorations, with birds and people visible on some examples. There are lots of heavily worked geometric patterns, vegetative designs and rosettes ornamenting the sarcophagi covers.

The sarcophagi are made from local stone, and usually trapezoidal in shape. Any that are rectangular are reused ancient coffins. Perhaps the most unusual piece is the double sarcophagi found at Saint Pierre des Eglises, decorated with cushions cut into the stone. 

Further Reading: My blog post on  The Merovingian Necropolis at Civaux.

Simon's blog post on  The Baptistère de Saint-Jean, Poitiers.

What sort of Salle?

This is the salle polyvalente in Sacierges-Saint-Martin. Why it is that rather than a salle des fêtes or a salle des associations I don't know. What I do know is that Sacierges-Saint-Martin is a small village with a new salle polyvalente that has a medieval arrow slot built into the wall.

Saint-Benoît-du-Sault

Saint-Benoît-du-Sault is a medieval village, perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former province of Berry. Since 1988, it has been a Plus Beaux Village de France.

We went there last Thursday, after our damp picnic lunch. This means we weren't 100% in exploring mode, and it started to rain soon after we arrived. Thus, we only have photos of a few of the buildings, but we will be going back.

The gatehouse into the centre of the medieval town, which has a belfry attached.

There are dozens of medieval houses. This one caught the eye.

This is the rue du Portugal, although in the direction away from Portugal.

Some of these photos are courtesy of my cousin Linda. She was able to take photos because she was wearing a raincoat, whereas I was doing umbrella wrangling.

Picnic in the Rain

Last Thursday we visited some of the painted churches of the Anglin Valley. We packed a picnic just in case the weather was ok, and were in Prissac when lunchtime arrived and we thought we'd take a chance.

Prissac has a lovely picnic area next to an etang, with plenty of picnic tables, so we chose one under a tree (there was the possibility of a shower, but no storm) and set out our food. At which stage the rain hammered down. We waited at the table just long enough to get soaking wet, then packed up and ran to the car. (In the process of packing the table tipped up and deposited me on my back, but no damage was done except to my dignity).

Anyway - here's our picnic. You can't see the bread, but we had four types of cheese, tomatoes, olives, pickled onions (home made), smoked beef, terrine, hummus, and fresh fruit. And lashings of ginger beer.

We located to a picnic shelter that was being vacated by a couple of white van men (and their microwave oven). We would have started there but there was only one table in the shelter, and you hate to impose. It's an excellent shelter, with running water, a sink, and a couple of working power points.

Apart from soaked clothing it was a most successful picnic. The shelter needs more tables - and it would be nice if they were stable - but apart from that, excellent.

Memorial to the Rafle de Loches

This memorial plaque has been a long time coming. It says:

"Remember the French arrested by the Gestapo on 27 July 1944 in the canton of Loches dead for their country in the German camps.

In this school, 58 men and 6 women lived their first day of suffering with calm, courage and dignity.

49 of them gave their life for your future, your happiness and your freedom."

 

The new memorial.

"27 July 1944:  Loches roundup.

On 27 July 1944, at dawn, Gestapo agents, accompanied by militiamen and German soldiers, came from Tours and took over the town. More than 200 people were arrested, at home and in the street. Suspected of helping the Resistance, they were gathered in the courtyard of the girls' school, on the corner of rue Alfred de Vigny and rue des Jeux.

Civilians, members of the police force, the Loches sub-préfet, gendarmes from Loches and the surrounding area, who had been ordered into town several days earlier, were taken captive. They were interrogated for part of the day.

The courtyard of the girls' school was turned into a prison. By the evening, 58 men and 6 women had not been released. They were taken to the detention centre in Tours then deported to the Nazi camps of Neuengamme and Ravensbrück, where the majority of them would meet their death.

This stele is a place of memory and recollection. It's also the last memorial grave of these victims of Nazism condemned to disappear in the 'Night and Fog' (Nacht und Nebel decree) in the deportation and extermination camps.

We must remember and never forget."

 

This side street is now called rue des Déportés.

The subsequent list of names and their professions shows first those who died, and then those who returned. 

Further Reading: Link to my previous blog post about the Rafle de Loches  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2024/08/le-rafle-de-loches.html

Bleu d'Auvergne

I was excited to see this in the Coles supermarket in Manly. I was also "excited" by the price.

$84 per kilo is about 47€. We often buy exactly the same cheese at home in France for about €12 a kilogramme. It's makes a fairly regular appearance in our household as a very reliable inexpensive blue cheese - especially if it's in the anti-gaspillage (anti - waste food nearing it's end of display date) section at 30% off.

Berrichonne Churches

Yesterday we took cousin Linda and explored some churches south-east of le Blanc. Here's three photos.

The seven deadly sins

I don't know why, but this made me smile

The Three Living. The Three Dead have disappeared 

The plan is to write about each church in turn at some stage in the future.

Dinner at the Guinguette

My cousin Linda is in town, so in celebration of two special events we had dinner at the guinguette. Here is a slightly unkind photo.

Four-spotted Antlion

Twice this summer we have had pleasure of a visit by an uncommon and striking insect called a Four-spotted Antlion Distoleon tetragrammicus (Fr. Fourmilion longicorne). The adults look a bit like damselflies, but are much more sedentary. The juveniles are tiny ferocious predators that look like bits of bark with oversized jaws.

Antlions belong to the insect order Neuroptera, which includes lacewings and owlflies. The Antlions make up the family Myrmeleontidae.

Four-spotted antlions are present in southern Europe up to about Paris in the north, and in North Africa. 

They can be found during the day in open oak or pine woodland on dry calcareous hillsides, as well as nearby fallow land.

 The adults appear from June to August. The larvae, unlike other antlion species, do not dig funnel traps, but live in the dry leaf litter.

The Man Who Drew Angkor Wat

 

 There is a street in Loches named after him.

The naval officer, explorer, talented draftsman, curator and native of Loches, Louis Delaporte was the first to bring the temples at Angkor Wat and Khmer art to the attention of the French general public. Nowadays the temples are famous the world over and the site is UNESCO World Heritage listed. This year there is an exhibition honouring Delaporte in Loches, on the centenary of his death.

 

Louis Delaporte's Navy Lieutenant's uniform. This is for an adult, but it is modern young adolescent size.

 

It was in Cochin, in 1866, when Louis Delaporte was recruited by Commander Doudart de Lagrée to join a mission up the Mekong. His skill with a pencil was surely what led to the young 24 year old sailor being appointed as cartographer and official artist on the mission. The aim was to establish the navigability of the river with a view to a possible commercial link with China. The French Navy convoy made a detour via the ruins of the temple of Angkor Wat. It was a revelation for the young man from Loches. Little did he know that these vestiges of the past virtually buried under the jungle would transform his life.

 

A cast made by Delaporte's team in 1881-82 of a low relief frieze from Angkor Wat. It shows a scene from the battle of  Lanka. The central character is the demon Ravana in his chariot. He has kidnapped Rama's wife and is being attacked by Rama's allies the monkeys.

The exhibition underlines how Delaporte's role was to record in 'photographic' detail the sculptures, the people, their way of life, the landscape, in pencil and watercolours. His talent was recognised from the age of 13, when his artistic skill permitted him to attend a special naval college, and then the naval school at Brest when he was 16. Two years later he was on an expedition to Mexico.

 

Two casts and a watercolour from Angkor Wat.

This first expedition, and those that followed, were utterly fulfilling. Driven by his enthusiasm he produced many more drawings than his orders required. He was highly observant of his surroundings, and worked in a supportive environment, particularly in Asia. His curiosity is a legacy for future ethnographers.

 

Two casts of devata from the 12th century. Devata are female divinities and feature on many walls and columns at Angkor Wat. Often standing, bejewelled and serene, they have a protective role.

Once he returned to France Delaporte contributed to a vast Atlas of Exploration published in 1873. He devoted the remainder of his life to his passion for Khmer architecture, and worked at the Museum of Indochina at the Trocadero. He left this job in 1924 at the age of 82.

 

The Delaporte family home in Loches.

Drawings of Angkor Wat by Louis Delaporte.

Watercolour of Angkor Wat by Louis Delaporte.

Letters, notebook pages and other ephemera from the Louis Delaporte archive.

Further Info: https://www.ville-loches.fr/exposition-angkor-louis-delaporte-article-3-10-147.html