Editing Chinon (section)

== Monuments ==
{{see also|Château de Chinon}}

=== The historic town ===
The historic town of Chinon presents an interesting architectural ensemble, from the [[Middle Ages]] and the beginning of the [[Renaissance]] when the Loire Valley was the seat of the king's court.

Topography has played a major role: the formerly fortified town was developed at the foot of the castle on the rocky outcrop, protecting the northern side, with the Vienne River in the south. Apart from the natural defensive protection on both sides, this fact makes a long narrow urban space, with the main streets running parallel to the river.

The town was developed on both sides of the river: the fortified town at the base of the castle; the canons' quarter to the east; and on the other bank a suburb on the way to the southern regions of the [[Poitou]], important to the 12th century [[Plantagenet]]s.

The former fortified town at the foot of the castle contains a significant collection of old houses and narrow streets, including some half timber houses dating from the end of the 14th or the 15th centuries. The majority of the houses line the main street of this quarter, the rue Voltaire that then becomes the rue Haute Saint Maurice, originally Gallo-Roman, and also presents a number of ''[[hôtels particuliers]]'', or town manor houses, some with graceful turrets, winding staircase towers, and decorative elements form the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century. Others, more sober and classical, date from the following periods, with some fine examples from the 17th and 18th centuries.
[[File:Grand carroi.jpg|thumb|Grand Carroi [[Crêpe#Crêperies|crêperie]]]]
This street continues on past the church of Saint Maurice to its end where it was formerly enclosed by the fortifications. It also, at the main crossroads of the "Grand Carroi", offered the only access to the castle from within the town, and is the street that [[Joan of Arc]] took to go up and meet the future Charles VII in 1429.

The stone houses are made of the local [[tufa]] stone, a soft luminous limestone, easy to carve and lending itself to the often ornate sculpted decorations of the late Gothic and early Renaissance period. The roofs are of slate, another particular regional architectural element.

The quarter to the east was enclosed as well. It too lost these elements in the 1820s in an effort to open the town up to circulation and commerce. In this quarter one finds the parish church of Saint Etienne, and further the canons' quarter of the collegiate church of Saint Mexme. Here the houses are often larger, some presenting courtyards and gardens, dating from the late 15th century and on, a few fine examples of which were the canons' residences. To the south one can join the promenade along the river, or go up the rocky slope north east to the [[Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]].

The quarters of the former fortified town and that of Saint Etienne-Saint Mexme are divided by what was the only open space during the Middle Ages which was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the architectural elements date from this period. It now presents a square sheltered by trees with outdoor restaurants tables.

The town of Chinon also offers an unusual variety of perspectives, allowing one to take its measure in several ways: from the bank opposite the castle, or river by boat, from which one can fully see the architectural presence and importance of its castle and town; from the interior of the historic town itself; and from the rocky outcrop, either from the castle itself, or along the high narrow roads along it that lead past semi-troglodytic homes and caves to the chapel of Saint Radegonde, giving a panoramic view of the historic town and the valley that opens up on the other side of the river.

Chinon is also a participant in the Loire Valley cycling tourism circuit.

=== Collegiate church of Saint-Mexme ===
[[File:Collégiale Saint-Mexme.jpg|thumb|Collégiale Saint-Mexme church]]
Saint Mexme is the patron saint of Chinon, credited with having saved the town and its inhabitants in the 5th century from dying of thirst during a siege with a massive rain and thunder storm.<ref>Gregoire de Tours, De gloria confessorum.</ref> This moment is depicted in one of the stained glass windows of the apse in the church of Saint Etienne in Chinon by the atelier Lobin in the 19th century.

The hermitage, then [[monastery]] founded by Saint Mexme was destroyed in the 10th century, thus requiring reconstruction around the year 1000 AD. It is at this date that it became a [[collegiate church]]. Its importance was confirmed not only by its architecture, but that it was subject directly to the [[Holy See]] in Rome.

The [[collegiate church]] of Saint Mexme was the main religious edifice of the town until the Revolution when it was deconsecrated. A lack of necessary upkeep would lead to its partial collapse in 1817. The remaining largely [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] church retains its first [[façade]], now found in the interior, and its [[nave]], both from the year 1000 AD. The nave is characterized by its horizontal lines: rows of large arcades and a series of high windows topped by a string course and a timber ceiling. Remains of richly painted decoration from the period subsist around the upper windows and in the northern arcade. It is now a Historical Monument, and since 2002 it has housed a small wooden frame theatre used for musical and theatrical events.

[[File:Collégiale Saint-Mexme, jugement dernier du 15e siècle.jpg|thumb|[[Fresco]] in Collégiale Saint-Mexme church]]
The imposing façade, or west front, actually the second one built, dates from 1050 AD. It has a central portion, once richly decorated with carved stones depicting figuratives scenes that were largely mutilated during the Revolution, flanked by two side towers partially rebuilt in the 15th century. Some decorative interlacing and plant motifs can still be seen. This second façade was most likely architecturally influential in the region at the time.<ref>Le massif occidental de la collégiale Saint-Mexme de Chinon, Claude Andrault-Schmitt et Elisabeth Lorans, dans Avants-nefs et espaces d'accueil dans l'église entre le IVe et le XIIe siècle, sous la direction de Christian Sapin, Éditions CTHS, 2002.</ref> It forms, with the first façade from the year 1000 AD conserved in the interior, a [[narthex]] with a large [[barrel-vault]] with semicircular arches; the walls present blind arcades. Visible in the south chapel are some 15th-century paintings that have been conserved, notably a ''Last Judgement'', and a rare ''Fountain of Pity''. A very fine 18th-century open-newel winding stone staircase leads from the narthex to the upper floor. The upper gallery contains mural paintings from the 13th century, and a rare and imposing crucifixion carved in stone near the top of the first façade also dating from the 1st millennium. In 2006, the window openings were embellished with stained glass, following the designs of the painter [[Olivier Debré]]. They provide an unbroken view of the surrounding landscape.

Around the collegiate church are several former canonical residences, dating from the Ancien Régime.

=== Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde ===
[[File:Nef troglodytique et jardin de la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde.JPG|thumb|Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]]
The [[Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]] is half built into the rock face on the eastern outer limits of the town. During Antiquity, a natural underground spring at the back of the actual chapel was a site used for pagan worship. The site was Christianized in the 6th century when Queen [[Radegonde]], later named a Saint, supposedly came to visit the hermit John who lived there. The name of the sanctuary comes from this event.

[[File:Chasse royale, fresque de la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde.JPG|thumb|[[Fresco]] in Sainte-Radegonde chapel]]
Two naves were created, starting in the 12th century. One is carved directly into the rock and the second made adjacent to it at a later date. The chapel conserves some mural paintings, notably the ''Royal Hunt'', made towards the end of the 12th century, the time of the power and residence of the [[Plantagenet]] family in Chinon. The fresco figures 5 riders, two of whom are crowned, and another with a bird of prey on his wrist. It has been presumed that it depicts members of the Plantagenet family in Chinon, the two crowned figures possibly being [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], or their son Henry the Younger, crowned during his father's lifetime in 1170. In addition to its subject matter, this painting is of outstanding quality in its execution, its vivacity and the variety of colours.<ref>Cécile Voyer, Les Plantagenêts et la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde de Chinon : une image en débat, in Revue 303, n°81, hors-série 2004 Alienor d'Aquitaine.</ref>

Other paintings, depicting the story of Saint Radegonde and Saint John, were made during the 17th century.

The chapel was deconsecrated following the Revolution and used as dwelling places. In 1878, it was bought and restored as a sanctuary by a benefactress of Chinon, Madame Charre.

=== Church of Saint Maurice ===
[[File:Eglise Saint-Maurice - Chapelles 15e-16e.JPG|thumb|Saint-Maurice - Chapelles church, 15th / 16th century]]
The church of [[Saint Maurice]] is the parish church of the town, going thru several architectural evolutions. The oldest portion, the bell tower, is [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]], dating from the beginning of the 12th century. The [[nave]] and the [[choir (architecture)|choir]] both date from the end of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th, with Angevin [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style vaults. This style can be found in the Angevin territories, but not restricted to them. The vault is fairly bulbous in form, marked by very ornate sculptured and painted vault bosses, at the junction of the ribs and the capitols at the rib springs. A chapel from the 15th and a side aisle from the early 16th century mark the transition from [[Flamboyant Gothic]] to [[Renaissance architecture]]. The church was repainted in the 19th century, inspired by the restoration of the [[Sainte-Chapelle]] in Paris, and received new stained glass windows commissioned from the Atelier Lobin in [[Tours]].<ref>« Chinon, église Saint - Maurice », Monuments en Touraine, Congrès archéologique de France 1997, Paris, 2003.</ref>

The church of Saint Maurice is the most likely location of [[Joan of Arc]]'s prayer, while in Chinon in 1429.

=== Church of Saint Étienne ===
[[File:Chinon, Saint-Étienne.jpg|thumb|Saint-Étienne church]]
The church of Saint Etienne, or [[Saint Stephen]] in English, is the parish church of the eastern quarter, not far from the collegiate church of Saint Mexme. It was completely reconstructed in the [[Flamboyant Gothic]] style, with the exception of the lower portion of the bell tower, in the 15th century. It has a large single [[aisle]] covered by ribbed vaults. The [[apse]] contains stained glass windows depicting scenes of religious importance in Chinon and the surrounding regions: the meeting of Queen and future Saint [[Radegonde]] and Saint John of Chinon in the 6th century; the miracle of Saint Mexme saving Chinon from a siege with a rain and thunder storm in the 5th century; the death of Martin of Tours in [[Candes-Saint-Martin]] in 397; and the meeting of [[Joan of Arc]] and the future [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] in 1429. They were produced on commission by the Atelier Lobin in Tours in the 19th century. It also houses the first statue of Joan of Arc in a church, placed there in 1900, two decades before her canonization.