Areines

The church of Areines is dedicated to Notre-Dame. In the Middle-Ages, it was a chapel attached to the chapter of the cathedral of Chartres. The edifice dates back to the 11^thcentury but the apse was rebuilt in the 12^th century. The bell-tower is also a later addition. The present doorway was pierced in the 15^th century.

The mural paintings were discovered in 1931. The oldest ones date back to the 12^th century.

1) Half-domed apse: Christ in majesty surrounded by the Tetramorph - Lower register: four pairs of figures

(on the left: St Peter; on the right: St Paul, St John, St Thomas)

In the splaying of the axial window: two knights blessed by God's hand.

2) Vault of the choir bay: on the left: Visitation and Annunciation; on the right: Nativity - window on the left of the

choir bay: religious figures and red foliage scrolls on a white background.

Apse: general view

Christ in majesty surrounde by the tetramorph

Paschal Lamb