Remarkable churches and chapels
Once described as the “cradle of Romanesque art”, Auvergne is one of France’s leading centres for this style, characterized in architecture by the adoption of the basilica plan and the widespread use of the semicircular arch. Sumène Artense is dotted with remarkable religious buildings in the Auvergne Romanesque style. Other buildings, in Gothic or modern style, complete this anthology of remarkable religious edifices.
Since 1934, the Notre-Dame du Roc-Vignonnet chapel has been one of the Cantal’s 7 listed sites. The chapel stands to the west of the village of Antignac, atop a rocky outcrop overlooking the Sumène valley. Built between the 11th and 12th centuries and abandoned in 1758, this Romanesque church with its slate roof was restored between 2002 and 2007. Access to the chapel is via a path from the village of Antignac or from the hamlet of Roc Vignonnet. To visit the chapel (free of charge), simply contact the town hall.
From its basalt peak, the Romanesque chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Château still seems to watch over the village of Saignes. Classified as a historical monument in 1921, this 12th-century Romanesque building was part of the Château de Saignes, of which only a section of wall remains today.
From the chapel’s terrace, the view extends over Saignes and the surrounding area, as well as the Sumène valley, the basalt plateau of Chastel-Marlhac and the Milhac organs. Access to the site is from the village of Saignes. The chapel can only be visited on guided tours (contact the tourist office).
A veritable small town in the countryside, and the second-largest industrial center in the Cantal, the commune of Ydes has the distinction of having two localities bearing its name. Ydes-Centre, formerly l’Hôpital, developed at the end of the 19th century alongside local industrial activity (coal mining, railroads…). It eventually supplanted the historic birthplace of the commune, which is now called Ydes-Bourg.
Its church, dedicated to Saint-Georges and listed in 1862, has undergone foreign influences, but remains unquestionably one of the richest in the region. Its harmonious silhouette, architectural features and bucolic setting make it a popular place to visit. Originally a chapel, which became a church in 1923, the church at Ydes-Centre is known locally as the “miners’ church”.
The church of Saint-Martin de Trémouille was listed as a Monument Historique in 1980. Its homogeneous Gothic style dates back to the 15th century. The church has a single nave closed by a 5-sided apse, two side chapels and a comb-belfry with balcony.
The most striking feature of the building is the bell wheel, known as the “Roue de Saint Martin”, which hangs high in the choir.
Built in 1961 and 1962, Saint-Pierre church is striking for its contemporary, regionalist style. It replaced the church of the old village of Saint-Pierre, just a few hundred metres away, which was razed to the ground to exploit a uranium ore deposit.
Today’s church, dedicated to St. Peter the fisherman from Lake Tiberias, has a frame in the shape of an inverted ship’s hull. The floor is made of Corrèze slate, which imitates the swirls of water. As for the stained glass windows, they were made from mass-tinted glass slabs, a process widely used in the 1960s.
Quite common in the Haute-Auvergne region, the “comb belfry” or “wall belfry” consists of a wall usually resting on the front wall or triumphal arch of a religious building. This wall is pierced at the top by one to four bells. Robust and massive, simple in structure and without decoration, the wall-belfry is easy to repair. That’s why it was adopted very early on in the countryside.
Almost unique, the wall-belfry of the church of St-Maurice and St-Louis in Vebret is remarkable for its singularity. It is trapezoidal in shape, topped by a flat stone ridge, and features three bays arranged in two rows. The façade is supported by two imposing buttresses.
The Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens church in Antignac is another fine example of a comb bell tower. This consists of two bell towers: one, with a comb, surmounts the church’s triumphal arch, while the other, with a gable, towers above the façade.
This type of small gabled bell tower is quite common in rural chapels, such as the chapel of Saint-Jacques le Majeur de Vendes, in Bassignac.