The church is dedicated to Saint Peter the Apostle, who is said to be the prince of the apostles. He is the first of the 12 disciples, leader and missionary of the primitive Church and, according to tradition, first bishop of Rome and first pope. Peter is from Bethsaida, a city near the mouth of the Jordan. His real name, Simon, is of Greek origin. Pierre was certainly bilingual in Aramaic and Greek like most people in the region. His nickname of Peter (Kephas in Aramaic and Petros in Greek) means rock. It was then only a nickname which, after him, will become a name. According to tradition, Saint Peter has two keys: one in gold, heavenly, the other in silver, earthly. He thus has the ability to open and close Paradise. He is always represented holding these two keys in his hand. The Saint Pierre de Linars church was built in the 13th century. Several campaigns of works and restorations followed one another from the 12th to the 19th centuries. The church was largely destroyed during the religious wars. Its arcaded façade is characteristic of Romanesque art in the region. It is divided vertically by 4 columns supporting bust lion heads and horizontally by 3 levels of elevation separated by cornices supported by sculpted corbels. One of the corbels represents a goat's head with horns...
The gable wall (triangular in shape) at the top of the facade has a flat surface decorated with a carved cord forming a miter arch supported by three heads. Above the front door, in a semi-circular space called the tympanum, you can see one of the rare tympanums carved in Angoumois. We see Christ blessing with one hand and the other seems to hold the globe of the world. Christ is not inscribed in a mandorla or a glory but here in a large circle on which he is seated. Fairly frequent image of the sky in miniatures of the same period. Two angels come towards him, their hands open in a gesture of adoration. Everything recalls the false eardrums of the cathedral and the eardrums of the abbey church of Saint Amant-de-Boixe The bell tower, of original shape, attached to the north side evokes a watchtower to monitor the surroundings! The bell was cast in 1752. This Romanesque church has been listed as a historic monument since June 13, 1913, in particular for its arcaded facade decorated with animal busts and sculpted corbels.
Translated by Google •
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