Nevers No. 2

Results: 11 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

information

view of basin - interior

Scene Description: notice the square block with the drain hole

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of church interior - baptistery

Scene Description: general view of the crypt in May 2011 -- traces of the old baptistery were discovered during post-WWII period repairs; further excavations found the old baptistery and sunken piscina -- the area is no longer accessible to the public to minimise erosion

view of church interior - baptistery

Scene Description: the octagonal font in the context of the old baptistery in the crypt

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of church interior - baptistery - detail

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font - detail

Scene Description: the intake conduit

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font - detail

Scene Description: the intake conduit and the drain

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font - detail

Scene Description: the exit conduit

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

view of font in context

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 4 July 2001 by BSI

INFORMATION

FontID: 03713NEV

Church/Chapel: The old baptistery in the archaeological crypt of the Cathédrale St-Cyr-et-Ste-Julitte

Church Patron Saints: St. Cyricus [aka Cyriacus, Quiriac, Quiricus, Cyr] & St. Julita

Church Location: 6 Rue Abbé Boutillier, 58000 Nevers, France

Country Name: France

Location: Nièvre, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Directions to Site: Located in the town centre, off the D907, N of the Loire river, one block W of the Place de la Republique

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocèse de Nevers

Historical Region: Nivernais

Font Location in Church: In the Cathedral crypt

Century and Period: 6th - 12th century, Early Christian

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to M. Sébastian Carcel for the access to the crypt and for all his friendly help during our visit to the Cathedral 4 July 2001

Church Notes: the cathedral is listed in Mérimée [ref.: PA00112936]: "12e siècle ; 14e siècle ; 15e siècle

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Sunken font of the old baptistery [cf. Index entry for Nevers No. 1] which functioned, according to the source, between the 6th and the 12th century. The remains appear to include a piscina that is octagonal on the outside and round on the inside; given the state of the remains it is difficult to ascertaing whether the font was totally sunken into the ground or, more likely, raised or half-and-hald, as the sides of the font appear to be built upwards. The font is noted in Patrimoine…, Nièvre (1999). On-site notes: the bottom of the piscina has a large drain hole in a square stone; there are two water conduits, also related to the filling and draining of the piscina; the drain goes straight from the round well, where the one believed to be the intake conduit feeds at an angle. The cathedral has a modern marble baptismal font of the 18th-19th century.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 46.987222, 3.157222

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 46° 59′ 14″ N, 3° 9′ 26″ E

UTM: 31T 511956 5203756

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone

Font Shape: octagonal (sunken)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

Drainage Notes: [cf. Index entry for Nevers No. 1]

Diameter (inside rim): 80-95 cm*

Diameter (includes rim): 215-216 cm*

Basin Depth: 50-55-60 cm*

Notes on Measurements: BSI on-site *[NB: the site has been left showing different periods of the baptistry's history, therefore the measurements vary depending on the level. The total width of the outer piscina structure is 260 x 280 cm]

REFERENCES

Le Patrimoine des communes de la Nièvre, Charenton-le-Pont: FLOHIC, 1999

Guyon, Jean, Les premiers baptistères des Gaules (IVe-VIIIe siècles), Roma: Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell'Arte in Roma / Union des instituts étrangers de Rome, 2000

Louis, R., "Le baptistère de la cathédrale de Nevers du VIe au XIe siècle", CVIII (1950), B.M., 1950, pp. 153-180; r["References"]