Colombiers - Saint-Maclou

Colombiers is a small village (pop. 300) in the former marshes of the Seugne river. Life must be hard here in medieval times. Saint-Maclou, the village´s parish church, was erected in the 12th century. It was the church of a priory, dependent from the Benedictian Abbaye Saint-Sauveur in Charroux. The church got altered and modified during the Gothic period (15th.), when it lost its once Romanesque portal.

Single nave churches, like Saint-Maclou, are typical for the villages of the Saintonge. They may not look spectacular on the first sight. But here in Colombiers are some extraordenary carvings.

I have visited this church on two occassions, but unfortunately even a second visit with some better light, did not result in good photos. Sorry!

Most of the frieze-like capitals are similar to the carvings in Marinac. The style differs, but the "story" is the same. In an impenetrable djungle of entwining vines humans fight creatures, lurking through the foliage. Here the "Master of the Beasts" seen from another angle. The lions have very human faces and then would be manticores. Note the profile to the left. If the heads