One of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago-de-Compostella came through Saintes, bringing pilgrims to stop and pray at the relics of Saint Eutrope, credited as the first bishop of Saintes (3rd century) and martyred for converting the Roman governor’s daughter to Christianity. He became a bit of a cult figure, with his followers maintaining that status until the French Revolution began in 1789.
The church was consecrated in 1096 by Pope Urban II to house Saint Eutrope’s relics and to give pilgrims a place to pray. It is considered one of the preeminent Romanesque buildings in the region.
It is the only church where I have found my way to the choir loft. Here’s the view from there.
There was a great deal of stained glass here, which you can see in a photo gallery at Daveno Travels (scroll down, I cover two cathedrals in this article).
Saint Eutrope is buried below this basilica in one of the largest Romanesque crypts in Europe. It was dark for the first several feet until I tripped the light sensors. Then it was incredible. The place moved me in ways I cannot describe, and which stayed with me the rest of the day.
Address: Rue Saint-Eutrope, 171 Saintes, France / Phone : 05 46 74 23 82
Website: https://religiana.com/sainte-eutrope-basilica-saintes
Hours: Summer 9AM – 7 PM / Winter 8.30 AM – 6 PM
Admission: Free, but please consider making a donation. This is an active church, please be respectful in both dress and demeanor.
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Heather Daveno hails from Seattle, Washington. She is newly retired and divides her days in between three 501c3 organizations, where she is currently writing grants, managing social media, running a makerspace and making hats and clothing for a living history museum called Camlann Medieval Village. She is also writing a family history (The Matriarch Diaries) as well as a retrospective of her gig as a hatmaker (The Storied Hat). You can see her current textile projects at August Phoenix Mercantile and her travels at Daveno Travels.