The ancient Benedictine abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Ghartampe, located in the French town of Saint-Savin, 50 kilometers from Poitiers, has gained worldwide fame thanks to its unique frescoes of the 11th - 12th centuries, which constitute the largest and best preserved ensemble of Romanesque wall paintings in France. The Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Ghartampe is often called the "Romanesque Sistine Chapel" and the "Romanesque artistic jewel", and its frescoes are called "a masterpiece of human creative genius". With this “epithet”, the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartampe and its frescoes were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.
The abbey was founded at the very beginning of the 9th century by order of Emperor Charlemagne. According to legend, the monastery was founded on the site of the discovery of the remains of Christian martyrs, local saints Savenos and Cyprian. From the very beginning, the abbey, consecrated in honor of Saint Savin, enjoyed the patronage of the monarchs of France and the rulers of the county of Poitou and the duchy of Aquitaine. Therefore, the monastery quickly grew rich, acquired more and more land plots and peasants, and its monks became abbots (abbots) of many monasteries throughout the country.
Until the middle of the 14th century, the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartampe remained one of the most influential in France, and, naturally, its abbots spared no expense in giving the monastery a look consistent with its high status.
In 1010, the wife of William V the Great, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou, donated a large sum of money to the abbey, which allowed the construction of a new church to begin to replace the old one, built in Carolingian times. The construction of the church in the Romanesque style was carried out in 1040-1090. The church is impressive in size: its length is 76 meters, the height of the bell tower is 77 meters, and the length of the transept is 31 meters. The length of the central nave is 42 meters, width and height - 17 meters, it is separated from the side aisles by rows of 15-meter columns with capitals. The side naves with cross vaults are not inferior to the central nave in width and height. The sunlight penetrating inside the church through the side arched windows and bay windows well illuminates the main treasure of the temple - ancient fezzes, which are completely painted on the vault of the main nave (the painting area is 460 square meters), the walls of the narthex (narthex) and the crypts of Saints Savenos and Cyprian. These frescoes date back to the 11th-12th centuries, they depict scenes from the Apocalypse, the Passion of Christ and about fifty episodes of the Old Testament taken from the Books of Genesis and Exodus - 16 frescoes of the “Creation of People” cycle, a whole cycle dedicated to the Flood and Noah, and also stories on the themes “The History of the Tower of Babel”, “The Story of Cain and Abel”, “The History of Abraham”, “The History of Joseph”, “The History of Jacob”, “The History of Moses” The names of the painters who created these artistic masterpieces remained unknown. In total, these were masters of the local painting school, who used a very small set of paints when painting frescoes - yellow and red ocher, green and blue pigments (the latter is very rare, since at that time it was very expensive for artists to create a multi-color palette and shades). mixed primary colors with black and white paints, and the result was a work of art recognized as “a masterpiece of human creative genius.”
In the 13th century, the abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartampe was significantly expanded. Several new buildings were built to the monastery using funds donated by Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of King Louis IX of France.
But already in 1371, during the Hundred Years' War, the abbey was captured, plundered and set on fire by the army of Edward the Black Prince, the son of the English king Edward III.
Even greater damage to the abbey was caused in the 16th century, during the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots, and the monastery suffered both at the hands of Protestants and from royal troops.
The abbots appointed by the king at this time cared little about restoring the former power of the abbey; they were only interested in collecting taxes from the monastic estates and making money. So, in 1600, another abbot ordered part of the buildings of the 12th and 13th centuries to be dismantled, and the stones from which they were made to be sold.
In 1640, by decree of King Louis XIII, several monks from the Benedictine monastery of Noyer, who belonged to the community of Saint-Maur, were transferred to the dilapidated abbey. Through their efforts, the surviving monastery buildings were reconstructed, and the destruction of Romanesque frescoes was prevented.
It seemed that life at the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartampe was getting better, a long period of destruction had ended and a new stage in the revival of the monastery had begun.
But during the French Revolution, the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartampe was closed and the Benedictine monks were expelled from the monastery. In 1792, the abbey church became an ordinary parish church, and the monastery buildings were adapted for residential or administrative premises of the Republic. In 1820, a fire broke out in the church due to a lightning strike, causing significant damage to the unique Romanesque frescoes. The ancient frescoes and the abbey itself owe their salvation to Prosper Merime, who at that time held the position of chief inspector of historical monuments of France. In 1836, on his instructions, the most urgent measures were taken to save the paintings, and in 1840 the abbey church of Saint-Savin-sur-Ghartampe was declared a historical monument of France. From that moment until 1849, restoration work was carried out in it, aimed at restoring the building and saving the frescoes from destruction.
The next restorations were carried out in 1967-1974 and 2005-2008, thanks to which we can still see unique frescoes that represent “the heritage of the past, the heritage of culture and, finally, history.”
