Germigny-des-Prés

Germigny-des-Prés is a commune of the Loiret "département", in France.

The oratory at Germigny-des-Prés (Loiret, Orléanais) was built by Bishop Theodulf of Orléans in 806 as part of his palace complex within the Gallo-Roman villa in Germaniacus. Theodulf, who was also abbot of the neighboring monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, was a Spaniard and one of the most celebrated men of letters in the court of Charlemagne. His palace complex at Germigny-des-Prés was in a general sense modelled on Charlemagne's palace complex at Aachen.

As reconstructed by Theodulf in 806, the oratory took the form of a rough square with single apses in the middle of the north, south, and west sides, and three apses on the east side. Internally, the space took the form of a Greek cross: a high central tower filled the central bay, barrel vaults extended off in the north, south, east, and west bays, while in the corner bays there were low domes carried on squinches. This plan type was later to become standard in Byzantine architecture, but there do not seem to have been any earlier examples than the one here at Germigny-des-Prés. Horseshoe arches are used throughout the church, an unusual element in French architecture derived, in this case, from the Visigothic practices of Theodulf's native Spain. The central apse of the east contains a rich and complex mosaic showing two cherubin above the Ark of the Covenant. The drastic and insensitive 19th-century restoration of this church - which was in fact almost a demolition and reconstruction - has been universally criticized by architectural historians.

References

*Kenneth John Conant, "Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800 to 1200", Penguin Books: Harmondsworth, 1959.