Saint-Amand-Longpré offers two distinct ways to explore its history: the pilgrimage to the Notre-Dame de Villethiou Chapel and a silo whose structure recalls the 1930s “ocean liner style”. The town also has churches with medieval origins, wall paintings from several centuries and dated renovations. Here, the history of sacred architecture and 20th-century architecture meet in one place.
Pilgrimage Tradition and Chapel Architecture
The Notre-Dame de Villethiou Chapel is a centuries-old pilgrimage site that continues to welcome many visitors. It is located on the Way of St James and welcomes pilgrims who travel this route throughout the year. The first written records of the pilgrimage date back to the 15th century. A pilgrimage takes place every year on the first Sunday in September to celebrate the birth of Mary. If you would like to include this occasion in your trip, check the date in advance.
The building’s history can also be placed in a clear timeline: the chapel was rebuilt in 1843 and continued to be furnished until the beginning of the 20th century. It consists of a nave and a choir. There are six chapels on each side of the nave’s three eastern bays. This layout gives the building a specific architectural feature, while the pilgrimage offers another way to explore the history of the place.
Churches with Different Layers of History
The Église Saint-Pierre de Longpré was a priory church that also served as a parish church and belonged to the Sainte-Croix d’Angles Abbey. Its origins probably date back to the 11th century. The church preserves wall paintings from the 13th century, the late Middle Ages and the early 17th century. This span of time reveals several phases of decoration, rather than assigning the building to a single period. The entire church has been a listed historic monument since 26 September 2007.
The Église Saint-Amand offers another point of comparison across time: its choir dates from the 16th century, and Jules de la Morandière redesigned the church in 1873. Here, a dated renovation can be compared with an earlier building phase. Together with the wall paintings at Saint-Pierre, this provides different perspectives on how churches change: through decoration spanning several centuries in one case, and through the choir and renovation history in the other.
The Silo de l’Union
The Silo de l’Union at 12 rue de la Gare represents a different type of building. It has held the “Architecture contemporaine remarquable” designation since 2016 and was built in construction campaigns in 1946 and 1948. The reinforced-concrete building has seven storeys; its structure recalls the 1930s “ocean liner style”. The construction dates therefore postdate the period that inspired the style: the silo was built later than the era its form evokes. In contrast to the sacred buildings, it offers a distinct perspective on the architectural history of Saint-Amand-Longpré.
Discover more destinations: Saint-Bohaire, Nouan-Le-Fuzelier, Selles-Sur-Cher, Maves, Les Hayes, Averdon, Cour-Cheverny, Veuves.
For the wider travel overview: Loir-Et-Cher.
