Ethan Anthony

Abbaye aux Dammes, Saintes 2017

Another landmark building in Saintes is the Abbaye Aux Dammes. We visited the church which is a small and beautifully designed Romanesque masterpiece.

Romanesque design is complemented with sculpted columns and capitals. We walked around Abbaye aux Dammes after visiting the Arch of Germanicus close by. As we walked the weather deteriorated, heavy clouds formed over us, and the interior of the church was dark despite its coat of whitewash.

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The restoration door sports beautiful wrought iron hinges
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The low portal is framed by two blind arches where doors might have been in a larger church. The carving around the main portal is elaborate and well preserved. The windows on the upper tier sport dog tooth carving typical of early Romanesque architecture.
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Massive buttresses resist the force of the roof vaults. The former Dorter, another word for a dormitory in a monastery, attaches to the church behind the flying buttress.
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There is a similarity between the Sanctuary here at the Abbaye and the Sanctuaries of the Cistercian churches. The nave is similar to early domed Romanesque churches in Burgundy.
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