Falaise (Canton of Falaise, Calvados) Church of Saint-Laurent

    Initially consecrated to St Pierre and St Laurent, the church is located outside the walls north-east of the town on a hill dominating the Ante. 
Of the original construction, dating from the end of the 11th century, there remains only the nave with flat buttresses, with walls of shale rubble in herringbone pattern. The buttresses are pierced by small round-headed windows, a feature very rarely found in Normandy, which can also be seen in the churches of Ecajeul, Rucqueville and Fiquefleur. The façade and the doorway are also from the Romanesque period. A part of the choir with a flat east end dates from the end of the 12th century.

A modest country sanctuary, the church has undergone numerous additions over the centuries: a gabled bell cote of the 16th century above the façade or the two chapels to the north of choir, one from the 14th century and the other from the 19th century.

Bibliography

- German, Paul. - L'église St-Laurent, Condé-sur-Noireau, 1990
- Libourel, Jean-Louis. - Falaise, Caen : Association de développement culturel en Basse-Normandie, 1990
- Musset, Lucien. " Les églises ", dans : Falaise, Art de Basse-Normandie, n° 39, p. 34 à 39
- Musset, Lucien. – " L'église St-Laurent ", dans : A travers la Basse-Normandie et son patrimoine, Monuments historiques, n° 159, oct-nov. 1988