A week ago today, we spent the afternoon exploring the area west and north of Moulins and Neuvy in the département de l'Allier. We went to Souvigny, which has strong ties to the famous Benedictine abbey of Cluny, to the east. We stopped at Saint-Menoux, which has an impressive Romanesque church that was classified as a French monument historique back in 1840. More about those later...
We also drove a short distance north to the village called Agonges (pop. 315), where we saw the church above, as well as a few big old houses or châteaux out in the surrounding countryside. The church, Notre-Dame d'Agonges, dates back to the 12th century and was declared a French monument historique in 1925.
Here's one of the châteaux that I noticed when I was standing at the west entrance of the church. I'm not sure what the name of it is, because on the map I see two or three châteaux that it might be: Le Vieux Monceau, Le Petit Monceau, or just Le Château du Monceau. Your guess is as good as mine. I liked the view through tree branches.
Here's a view of the village square on the north side of which stands l'église Notre-Dame d'Agonges. Two or three cars besides ours were parked there, and there were no people to be seen. However, the church doors were open.
I went in and took this photo, among others. More tomorrow...
I like the solid look of this church as well as Saint Vincent. Lovely bright colors in those stained glass windows...wonder if they are a more recent replacement of the originals.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying all of these :)
ReplyDeleteThe variety of the stone color on the exterior is attractive. The last photo shows how very thick the walls are.
ReplyDelete