Eglise Saint-Georges de Chavanges

Curiously, it is the careful study of the evolution of ground levels that provides the most precise indications of the stages in the construction of the Saint-Georges church in Chavanges, (county town in the north of the Aube département).

At the highest point (i.e., the oldest level) on this slope of the Champagne coast, dominated by the massive late 16th-century bell tower, the old Romanesque portal (late 12th century) remains to the west. A metre and a half (7 steps) lower, we find the level established in the first third of the 16th century to raise the choir by a general planing and an extension of the mound to the east.

Between the two, the nave had been rebuilt by the parish community in the late 15th century, in a sober late Gothic style. Half a century later, at the expense of the clergy and noble families, as is the custom in Champagne, this opening up of the site, together with the evolution of taste and general prosperity, enabled us to extend the ample choir and the two arms of the transept, with their three 4- and 5-sided apses. Wide windows provide excellent lighting.

The infills and undulating pillars, as well as the foliage and picturesque figures on the collared capitals, still belong to the flamboyant Gothic style.

The completed building was consecrated in 1554 by Antonio Caracciolo, Prince of Melphe. This famous favorite of Catherine de Médicis attempted to be both bishop of Troyes and pastor of the Protestant community.

The furniture, statues, paintings and stained-glass windows reflect these stages, from rustic statues such as the Virgin Mother, St. Barbara and St. Catherine, to 16th-century works such as St. John the Baptist, St. Nicholas and St. George, to a later work, Christ aux liens, dated 1702.

Worthy of special mention are the canvases of St. Sebastian, St. George?s Unfolding, St. Anne and the Virgin Child, scattered throughout the building, and those on the main altars: Christ and the Works of Mercy (1642), The Virgin Giving the Rosary to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena (attributed to Jaques de Létin, 1637); St. George Overthrowing the Idols (main altar dated 1684) by Jean Chabouillet.

A fine series of stained-glass windows occupy the bays of the eastern section. They reflect the evolution of stained-glass art in southern Champagne, tending towards a fading of colors and well-known models: in the choir, the Nativity, Scenes from the Passion of Christ, the Ascension; the Creation and the Life of Saint Magdalene to the south; the Life of Saint Andrew, the Sibyl of Tibur, and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist to the north.

Finally, still to the north, the precious Apocalypse stained-glass window, based on the series of engravings by the great German artist Albert Durer published in 1498. Although extensively restored at the end of the 19th century, this magnificent composition, installed around 1540, illustrates the strength of trade between Germany and the kingdom of France in the first third of the 16th century.

The attentive visitor can also discover the subtlety of the Trojan glass masters in the art of adapting their models to the tastes of the lords (their coats of arms are still visible at the top). From this rather remote Champagne region, their taste was assured.

Open Monday to Sunday.

DATAtourisme France