Eglise Saint-Pierre - Bar-sur-Aube

The story begins with a Carolingian church that became a Benedictine priory. The Benedictines came from Saint-Claude Abbey in the Jura.

A complete overhaul of the church around 1170 led to the current building . The Saint-Pierre church in Bar-sur-Aube therefore dates from the end of the 12th century. Until the French Revolution it was both a priory and a parish church : the monks reserved the choir, transept and radiating chapels for themselves; the faithful were satisfied with the nave and the aisles.

Clairvaux, fifteen kilometers away, influenced the style of the church: very simple , without painted capitals or large frescoes, and with white stained glass windows. This was the Cistercian ideal and the spirit of Saint Bernard. The few stained glass windows visible today date from the 19th century. They embellish the apse and the transept.

In a side chapel you can see a beautiful altarpiece by Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon (1667-1742), formerly the main altar of the collegiate church of Saint-Maclou. Finally, the Saint-Pierre church has a remarkable collection of 16th-century statues of the Trojan school.

A picturesque feature: the south and west sides are fortified by a 14th-century wooden gallery known as the "halloy" . This was once an aître, or cemetery shelter. According to sources, the merchants of Provins used this gallery during the Champagne fairs to protect their stalls . This wooden gallery is still well preserved.

The Christ on the cross between the arcades is dated 1804 and comes from the collegiate church of Saint-Maclou.

During the French Revolution, the church was converted into a theophilanthropic temple and then into a feed store. During Napoleon I's 1814 French campaign to repel the invading armies, wounded soldiers were crammed into the church for treatment. They used the furniture as firewood. They burned the church to the ground.

Willem Vandenameele