Eglise Saint-Pierre-es-Liens

The church Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens of Riceys-Bas exists at least since the end of the seventh century. It is the mother church of the agglomeration of Riceys.

Its present appearance goes back to the transition between Middle Ages and Renaissance, so its style reflects both periods. The choir was built at the end of the 15th century, followed by the side chapels of the choir, the transept and the nave, in the first half of the 16th century. The dates of 1522 and 1527 are worn on the south pillars and that of 1543 on the first pillar north. The western facade dates from the middle of the 16th century and was completed by the addition of two side chapels of the choir in 1614 and 1647. The grand stone staircase of the western entrance was redone in 1861.The church is composed of a nave with three aisles, four spans, with lateral chapels between the buttresses, a non-projecting transept and a three-bay choir with three spans also accompanied by chapels ending with a three-sided apse. The western facade has a semicircular porch surmounted by a floor with an outer gallery and three stone lanterns covered with cupolas. The belfry, surmounted by a 42 m high spire, rises above the crossing. The oldest surviving glassworks date back to the end of the 15th century, with Calvary and the Apostolic Credo of the apse. The axis bay is dedicated to the Life of St. Peter, with donors presented by the saint as pope; the Apostolic Creed with apostles and prophets who respond to each other through phylacteries; to the Christ of Mercy, accompanied by fragments of a Tree of Jesse, of Saint Robert, of disparate scenes like a Decollation of Saint John the Baptist. Towards 1525 was realized the glass-house dedicated to the Genesis, which follows a current iconographic model in Champagne. The windows of the nave with original imagery presenting the miraculous host and the said of the three dead and three alive date from 1549 and 1550. Decorative and figurative canopies were set up in the 19th century, notably by LV Gesta en 1871 and 1880 for a guardian angel (bay 6), a Saint Barbara and a holy Emilie (bay 11), and by E. Virot in 1872 for an Education of the Virgin (bay 7). The complete restoration of stained glass was undertaken in 1869. But serious damage was caused by hail between 1876 and 1895. The main windows were restored by JJ Gruber in 1960 (miraculous host) and then between 1974 and 1976 and finally in 1981 (Dit des three deaths). In 1983, the canopy is damaged by stone throwing. From 1985 to 1987, the Vinum workshop proceeded to the removal of several panels that joined the windows of the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse at the Troyes cathedral treasury. The building and the stained glass windows were classified in 1840.

Last updated on 03/01/2023 - Office de Tourisme de la Côte des Bar en Champagne