Malestroit : Saint-Gilles Church

The church was built in the 12th, 13th and 15th centuries. It was enlarged in 1511 and 1531, then rebuilt after a fire in 1952. The oldest section, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, includes part of the choir, an arm of the southern transept and the crossing of the transept. The exterior of this Romanesque part is typical, with not very prominent buttresses and small windows. The dark color of the stone contributes to this old aspect. A niche in a cul-de-four, which was probably the location of an old altar, is on one side of the arm of the transept. The porch, which has two doors surmounted by arches in basket handle, presents between these doors a fine pillar with a niche carrying a canopy and a cheek. On each side, two large pillars support a statue of the beef and the lion. Between the gables of the two naves overlooking the street, there is a hexagonal turret called "Le Beffroi". A shallow well is located at the back of the northern apse, probably where the Romanesque apse was originally. In the 11th century, the church consisted of a choir with a round apse, northern and southern transepts with round absidioles, a cross of transept and a nave with an important porch.