Montrésor and Her Collegiate Church

Montrésor – what a beautiful village to visit! In fact, it boasts the title of one  the”plus beaux villages de France “ which translates to one of the most beautiful villages in France.

There are 157 villages which have received this designation and Michelin provides a map of them. Stop in at a local “Librairie”  or FNAC store and ask for the map if you are going to be driving in France.

The village streets are lovely!

Earning the Plus Beaux Classification

Villages must make application to receive this classification of plus beaux villages  and there are 27 criteria that must be met. For the application to be considered the village must have no more than 2000 people and must have at least two protected historic sites. Montrésor, of course, has its Château and the Collegiate Church. This is a strict process and only about 1 application in 5 actually makes it through the process to receive the plus beaux villages designation.

Montrésor is perched above the river so we did a lot of climbing and descending as we wandered around. It was well worth it, though, as this is truly a beautiful place. The Château de Montrésor is a good place to start your explorations and the car park there is probably the easiest to access. From the Château you can wander on in to the village proper.

Like the Château, the church rises above the village.

The Village Church

One of the sites we wanted to see was the church which we had seen from the Château.

With no map, we easily found the church by just wandering toward the steeple.

Imbert de Bastarnay established  Saint Jean Baptiste Collegiate Church in 1522. He was the lord of Montrésor and also advisor to King  François I. He was also grandfather of Diane de Poitiers.

In the Collegiate Church we saw the family burial vault of Imbert – super ornate! Those are the twelve disciples that you see carved around the side of the vault.

The twelve disciples encircle the vault.

Effigies

On the top of the vault are life-size effigies of Imbert, his wife Georgette Monchenu and their son. There are angels at each corner and the effigies have their feet resting on greyhounds.

Carved in stone on the vault is the following

This tomb of the high and powerful Lords

Imbert of Bastarnay of Bouchage

Founder of the Collegiate Church of Montrésor

Georgette de Monchenu his wife, their son François

And eight other member of the same family

Overturned by the Revolution of 1793

Was raised and restored in this year of 1875

With the aid of Pélagia Zamoyska

Countess Xavier Branicki

The Stations of the Cross found on the walls are also beautiful pieces of sculpture ! These are between 18 and 24 inches high and simply stunning!

Although a small church, the  beautiful stained glass amazed me!

Saint Jean Baptiste Collegiate Church

Saint Jean Baptiste Collegiate Church

Plus beaux villages are by definition small and are guaranteed to give you a beautiful experience of France. I love Paris and all she has to offer, no doubt, but if given a choice between exploring one of these villages or spending time in the city, I would definitely choose the villages. These are the true heart of France, in my opinion!