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Paradoxplace South West France Photo and History Pages Paradoxplace France Photo & History Pages Links to French Cathedral and Abbey Photo Pages in Paradoxplace
L'Église St-Nicholas, Civray
Link to Maps of the Pilgrimage Roads of France
Back to Poitiers to Périgueux the Long Way
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The facade of L'Église St-Nicholas in Civray - you would think there might be one or two little gems hidden here, and sure enough there are the weathered remains of a Zodiac cycle around the main door .......
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From bottom left - Aquarius carelessly tosses his water over a December feaster, February man warms his feet, Pisces hide under a ledge and spring man prunes his vines - meantime a pert Romanesque angel floats past carrying things!
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Details - The fish of Pisces are hiding under a river stone, and underneath this looks like a February person who has taken off his boots to warm his feet at the fire.
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Top centre (from the left) - the fading but still affectionate Gemini Twins, vine tending, Cancer the Crab, Summer Solstice (June 21), Leo the Lion, maybe scything or threshing, Virgo (except she looks a bit like her next cycle sister Libra - Le Balance).
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There is an interesting nautical ensemble to the left of the main door. Men in boats on the capitals, with some guy walking on the waves on the right. On the column underneath (photo below) Pisces the Fishes make a return, a strutting crow joins in (meaning unknown to the Dom), the double headed eagle which, known only to a handful of people (including the Dom), was the seal of Eleanor of Aquitaine (also less interestingly of assorted Holy Roman Emperors like Frederick II), and maybe Taurus the Bull or maybe Aries the Ram or maybe a hunting dog .......
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A sneaky beak inside the painted (decorated?) wonderland that is a feature of several of the large Poitou / Aquitaine churches - just a question of what you are used to ....... !
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All original material on this site © Adrian Fletcher 2000-08 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission
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