I walked past this church on my way from the train station to the centre of Orleans and rather embarrassingly thought it was the back of the cathedral when Jean Michel pointed out that there are no towers. It’s actually the church of Saint Paterne and was destroyed twice by the people of Orléans during the Hundred Years War (in 1358 and 1428) because they thought the English might use it as a fortress. Next time I’ll go and have a look at the front.
Je suis passé devant cette église en me rendant de la gare au centre d’Orléans et je dois avoir à ma grande honte que je croyais que c’était l’arrière de la cathédrale jusqu’à ce que Jean Michel me dise qu’il n’y a pas de tours. En fait l’église de Saint Paterne construite au 16ème siècle et détruite deux fois au cours de la guerre de cent ans par les orléanais eux-mêmes (en 1358 et 1428), redoutant que les anglais n’utilisent le bâtiment comme place forte. La prochaine fois j’irai voir l’entrée principale.
4 replies on “Saint Paterne”
Well I am confused re front and back. Beautiful building. Impossible to imagine it was rebuilt twice.
You may not have seen Chartres cathedral which has two highly decorated entrances, one facing west and the other north. This chuch is the same. What looks to you like the main door is actually the north door. There is another one on the west. I’ve only seen a photo but will visit it next time and take a photo.
It’s a beauty.
I thought you would like it.