But the choir and apsis were previously of a different aera from
the rest of the edifice. They were raised by the Abbot Simon de
Trevieres, in the beginning of the fourteenth century.--I am greatly
mistaken, if a real Norman church ever extended farther eastward than
the choir.
The building is now undergoing a thorough repair, at the expence of the
town. No other revenues, at present, belong to it, except the _sous_
which are paid for chairs during mass.
A friend, who is travelling through Normandy, describes the interior in
the following manner; and, as I agree with him in his ideas, I shall
borrow his description:--"Without doubt, the architect was conversant
with Roman buildings, though he has Normanized their features, and
adopted the lines of the basilica to a _barbaric_ temple. The Coliseum
furnished the elevation of the nave;--semi-circular arches surmounted by
another tier of equal span, and springing at nearly an equal height from
the basis of the supporting pillars. The architraves connecting the
lower rows of pillars are distinctly enounced. The arches which rise
from them have plain bold mouldings. The piers between each arch are of
considerable width. In the centre of each pier is a column, which
ascends as usual to the vault.
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