Sancta-Maria in Albis church

  • Historic site and monument
  • Religious heritage
  • Classified
  • 18th C
  • Baroque
place Briançon, 06540 Breil-sur-Roya
Parish church, classified Historical Monument , it was completed around 1700 on the site of an old medieval church very damaged in the seventeenth century. Imbued with the regional baroque context of the time, its design is extremely original.
It is a pure baroque jewel! Its facade, rather narrow, gives it an accentuated aspect of verticality. Built according to a plan in the shape of a Greek cross with four equal arms, its centered plan is characteristic of Baroque art in its purest form.
The baroque decoration of the church was carried out gradually after its construction. Stucco, gypseries and woodwork during the eighteenth century. The frescoes adorning the vaults and the dome around 1860.
Pilasters with Corinthian capitals and a wide cornice with superimposed friezes surround the "Greek cross" creating both a vertical rhythm and the visual unity of the vast richly decorated volume.
In the chancel, at the rear of a balustrade with marble inlay and an elegant wrought iron gate, is the main tiered altar, decorated with gypseries and gilded woodwork. In the center of the vast apse with three sides, a very rich altarpiece in height houses a mannerist statue of the Virgin Mary, visible from the nave. This apse is surrounded by walnut stalls dating from 1766.
Two small chapels with 18th century stucco altarpieces can be found on either side of the short nave, dedicated to Saint-Joseph on the left, and to Saint-Antoine l'Ermite on the right.
wo imposing 18th century baroque chapels occupy the transepts: the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire (left transept), and the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Suffrage-et-du-Mont-Carmel (right transept).
On either side of the choir are two chapels visually isolated from the Greek cross, and not integrated into the general decoration: Saint Peter on the left, where one can admire a triptych dated 1500, and the Crucifixion on the right, represented by a group sculpted from naive wood. A small museum next to this chapel presents ancient religious objects and relics behind a glass wall.
The 18th-century gypseries, particularly in the frame of the paintings, complement these decorations in a symmetrical way.
Finally, on a beautiful platform decorated with musical instruments, the Italian organ of the nineteenth century is inserted in a magnificent painted wooden sideboard of the eighteenth century (classified historical monument).
It is a pure baroque jewel! Its facade, rather narrow, gives it an accentuated aspect of verticality. Built according to a plan in the shape of a Greek cross with four equal arms, its centered plan is characteristic of Baroque art in its purest form.
The baroque decoration of the church was carried out gradually after its construction. Stucco, gypseries and woodwork during the eighteenth century. The frescoes adorning the vaults and the dome around 1860.
Pilasters with Corinthian capitals...

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Location

Location

Sancta-Maria in Albis church
place Briançon, 06540 Breil-sur-Roya

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  • French
Updated on 06 December 2023 at 10:56
by Office de Tourisme Menton, Riviera & Merveilles
(Offer identifier : 4737151)