L’église Saint-Pierre de Thaon (Calvados) Étude de l’édifice au xiie siècle

Abstract

The old Saint-Pierre parish church at Thaon (Calvados) represents one of the most remarkable monuments of Norman architecture in Normandy. It consists of a bell tower erected in the eleventh century around which articulate a nave and a chancel built during the twelfth century. This nave originally possessed two side aisles, long since disappeared. Several architectural and archaeological studies have been devoted to the church since the early nineteenth century, mainly aimed at establishing the major construction and renovation phases, and not without raising numerous controversies on certain points. To complete the earlier studies and to provide support for a coherent general restoration programme now envisaged, an exhaustive archaeological operation has recently been undertaken, associating analysis of the elevations with the complete excavation of the edifice. This current work has shown that several buildings dating to the eleventh and twelfth centuries preceded the twelfth century edifice. The contribution of the standing building study to the knowledge of the preserved twelfth century church is presented here.