Editing Chinon (section)

=== 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.