THE CHURCH OF ST. PHILBERT

Facing the former entrance to the château, now walled in, Saint-Philbert church was built at the end of the ^11th century on the foundations of the former Benedictine abbey church, with a Romanesque choir and Gothic nave. The neo-Romanesque bell tower, inspired by that of Tournus where the body of Saint Philbert lies, was built in 1875 to replace the former bell tower destroyed by fire in 1843. Beneath the choir, the crypt, listed as a historic monument, is the only vestige of the monastery founded by the monk Saint Philbert (who laid the foundations of the island's economy) around 674. In the center is an impressive empty tomb, built after St. Philbert's body was transported to Tournus during the Norman invasions of the ^9th century. The stained glass windows, dating from the early ^20th century, depict the history of Philbert: on the north side, the former abbey, the château, the abbey's coat of arms, the grotto where Philbert liked to retreat; on the south side, four abbeys linked to the saint: Jumièges, Déas (Saint-Philbert-de-Grandlieu), Cunault and Tournus. The church features two ^17th-century altarpieces. The Rosary altarpiece (south transept) is the most lavishly decorated, with garlands of roses and suns carved in stone. In the north transept, the altarpiece of Saint Anne is more sober. Other highlights include a painting of the Miraculous Fishing donated by Napoleon III, and a model of a frigate by Lieutenant Jacobsen. Another historical fact: in 1794, the church was used as a prison for the 1,500 Vendéens massacred during the Vendée wars.