L'Eglise Saint-Vincent à Neuvy dans l'Allier

Here are four more views of the Église Saint-Vincent in Neuvy, just outside Moulins in the Allier. The first is a close-up of the bell tower (le clocher). Here's what I've read about its style: Le clocher est orné, sur les faces est, nord et ouest, par des arcatures en mitre groupées par quatre.

Parts of the church date back as far as the 11th century, but as with many ancient buildings in France, the Église Saint-Vincent has been modified and expanded over the centuries — especially in the 12th and 15th centuries. In fact, the church was originally dedicated to saint Hilaire, and was given the name Saint-Vincent only after the 1789 French Revolution.

To my untrained eye, this church struck me as being very different from other churches I've seen in the Allier or in the Loire Valley. You can read about it here or here in French for more details. We weren't able to go inside the church. I've read that the Neuvy church is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, but we were off traveling in other areas during those hours.

I thought the photo below showing a white van parked in front of the church might give you a better idea of the scale of the place. I took these photos at sunrise on a clear morning when I was out taking a walk with the dog.

We were in the Allier from March 5 until March 9, and we did mostly car tours, with short walks around the village where our gîte was located and in other places during the day, depending what caught our eye and whether or not we could put the dog on a leash and walk her around with us rather than leave her shut up in the car.