Collegiate church square

 Originally a refuge for the town’s inhabitants, the square was equipped with a well and surrounded by the knights’ house. A medieval wooden market hall was replaced in the 19th century by the octagonal metal-framed market hall. After housing the market, it was used as a school playground until 1912. It was demolished in 1938 to facilitate automobile traffic.  The large houses surrounding the square belonged to the bourgeois families of the canons. On the right was an old house with a corbelled turret belonging to the Allouveau de Montréal, a noble family who came from the south of France in the 14th century. They left

Saint-Germain for La Croisille in the early 19th century. The house was demolished in 1946.  On the left, note the fine group of 16th- and 18th-century buildings.

Images :

• The square at the beginning of the 20th century in the hall that was demolished in 1936.
• Place de l’Eglise in 1940, after the demolition of the covered market.

 

The tour explores the history of Saint-Germain-les-Belles. We invite you to take this tour through the town center, passing by :

1. the collegiate church square and the fortified church
2. the Boule d’or and the Champ de Foire
3. the alleyway
4. the schools and ramparts
5. the Petit Barri
6. the tower and the church’s inner donjon