Eglise Saint-Pierre-es-Liens - Les Riceys

The Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens church in Riceys-Bas has existed since at least the end of the 7th century. It is the mother church of the town of Les Riceys.

The current appearance dates from the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , and the style reflects both periods. The choir was built at the end of the 15th century, followed by the side chapels at the choir, the transept and the nave in the first half of the 16th century. The years 1522 and 1527 are on the southern pillars and 1543 on the first northern pillar.

The west facade dates from the mid-16th century and the whole was completed with the addition of two side chapels to the chancel in 1614 and 1647. The large stone staircase at the west entrance was rebuilt in 1861. The church consists of a nave with four bays and three naves with side chapels between the buttresses, a non-projecting transept and a choir with three bays and three naves, also with chapels, ending in a three-sided apse. The west facade has a semicircular portal surmounted by a second floor with an exterior gallery and three stone lanterns with domes.

The oldest surviving windows date from the end of the 15th century, with the Calvary and the Apostles' Creed in the apse. The central bay is dedicated to the life of Saint Peter, with donors represented by the saint as pope; the Apostles' Creed with apostles and prophets interacting through phylacteries; Christ of Pity accompanied by fragments of a Tree of Jesse, Saint Robert, and disparate scenes such as the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Around 1525, the stained glass window dedicated to Genesis was created, according to an iconographic model common in Champagne. The windows in the nave, with their original depictions of the Miraculous Host and the Story of the Three Dead and the Three Living, date from 1549 and 1550. Decorative and figurative stained glass windows were installed in the 19th century, especially by LV Gesta in 1871 and 1880 for a guardian angel (bay 6), a Saint Barbara and a Saint Emilie (bay 11), and by E. Virot in 1872 for an education of the Virgin (bay 7). The stained glass windows were completely rebuilt in 1869.

However, serious damage was caused by hail between 1876 and 1895. The main windows were restored by JJ Gruber in 1960 (Miraculous Host), then between 1974 and 1976 and finally in 1981 (Story of the Three Dead). In 1983 the main window was damaged by stones being thrown at it. From 1985 to 1987, the Vinum workshop removed several panels that were added to the stained glass windows of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the treasury annex of Troyes Cathedral. The building and its stained glass windows were classified in 1840.

Willem Vandenameele