Collegiate Church press kit
From the construction of the first religious building in the fifth century to the recent works, all stages of construction, expansion and transformation can be observed. The architectural history of the church can be read in the crypt and on its walls, and the contemporary and unusual uses are discovered with astonishment. Lifting the veil on the collegiate church also means meeting great historical figures, such as Count Foulques Nerra or the "good King René".
​
​
​
The collegiate church of Saint-Martin d'Angers is a former collegiate church located in the historic centre of Angers, is one of the best-preserved Carolingian monuments in France and a testimony to fifteen centuries of architectural evolution. Its choir is a very fine example of the Angevin Gothic style.
​
Archaeological excavations carried out in the twentieth century by Canon Pinier, then by G. H. Forsyth and more recently by departmental archaeologists, have made it possible to find the foundations of the first churches, dated respectively to the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries. The first building, probably erected to house the burial of a bishop of the city, was in fact quickly enlarged in the following centuries.
The third church is more ambitious than the previous ones. Lengthened by several metres, it has a cruciform plan thanks to its overhanging transept, each arm of which is extended by an apse. Archaeologists attribute this reconstruction to Bishop Loup, who died in the last third of the seventh century1.
​
The crypt reveals the remains of the first religious buildings. Similarly, many burials, sarcophagi and slate formwork have also been unearthed and attributed to the Merovingian period.
​​
The tenth and eleventh centuries
The church was rebuilt again in the tenth century, with the particularity of having four large arches alternating tufa stones and bricks to frame the crossing of the transept.
In the following century, it was the Count of Anjou Foulques Nerra who left his mark on the building. With his wife Hildegard, they instituted 13 canons in Saint-Martin to serve it, making the church a collegiate church. In addition, the count commissioned work, particularly at the level of the transept crossing where a dome was installed, which is still visible.
​
Choir vault in Angevin Gothic.
Towards the middle of the twelfth century, the Carolingian choir of the collegiate church was transformed in the Gothic style, then enlarged during a second campaign of works. A second bay and an apse have made it possible to lengthen the building in a Gothic style known as Angevin or Plantagenet, which is characterized by the domed appearance of its vaults.
The old chapel of the High Middle Ages was then enlarged at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Called the "Chapel of the Angels" because of its remarkable decoration, its transformation marked the end of the Gothic reconstruction of the building. In the chapel, there are remains of a rich original painted decoration. At the beginning of the last century, the Massacre of the Innocents, as well as the Adoration of the Magi, were still read there; unfortunately only the Virgin and the Child Jesus can still be discerned. The chapel also has a rich collection of capitals well highlighted by the current lighting.
​​
King René, "founder and patron of the church"
In the second half of the fifteenth century, King René, Duke of Anjou, allowed the embellishment of the collegiate church by financing the raising of the transept walls and the installation of a panelled framework on each arm. He had his arms and emblems affixed to the panelling, and more broadly commissioned a campaign to decorate the church, the walls of which were covered with an imitation of dressed stones, and in places with heaters, emblems of the duke2.
The contemporary period
Following the French Revolution, the chapter of canons was abolished. After several months of abandonment, the church was used as a warehouse for the town hall for confiscated books, before being sold to private individuals. The building was used as a firewood store and then as a warehouse for the tobacco industries. This change of use was accompanied by a rapid deterioration of the church, which saw the disappearance in the nineteenth century of the roof of the nave, the upper floor of the bell tower, the remains of the cloister and part of the façade. Buildings were then built in front of the building and in the old nave.
The eastern part, still elevated, belonged to the Externat Saint-Maurille, an establishment that preceded the Lycée Saint-Martin, between 1902-1903 and 1986. Canon Pinier, superior of the Day School, had carried out some excavations. The building was used as a meeting room, an awards room, and a theater room. Festive meals were also held there before it was reassigned to worship. In 1986, the association that owns the school, unable to finance the restoration of this building, "sold it to the department of Maine-et-Loire for the price of one franc".
The collegiate church of Saint-Martin, acquired by the department of Maine-et-Loire in 1986, is now a place for shows and visits (24 June 2006), after twenty years of rehabilitation work accompanied by archaeological studies. It offers the public a superb cultural space with several dozen Angevin statues. The church has been classified as a historical monument since January 21, 1983.