Overview
Part of the diocese of Bourges, the parish is said to have belonged to the châtellenie of Bourbon-l'Archambault or to the abbey of S-Menoux. The church, dedicated to two patron saints, Saint Fiacre and Saint Pierre, was animated during the Middle Ages by pilgrimages and processions, associated with the cult of Saint Fiacre. The six-bay basilica has no transept, but since the two easternmost bays (including the apse) have been rebuilt in the nineteenth century, it is hard to know whether there was once a crossing and eastern tower. The present tower is unusual for the area, since it is set over the nave western bay. The nave is composed of a main vessel with pointed barrel vault flanked by narrow aisles with longitudinal barrel vaults. In the main arcade the two western arches are pointed; then come two rounded arches and the remaining two to the east are nineteenth century. The outer walls of the nave are of petit appareil with remains of an earlier doorway with a triangular lintel: these outer walls are clearly significantly earlier than the main arcade and vault, which were probably inserted into what was originally a wooden-roofed nave. Late Gothic chapels flank the fourth bay of the nave, possibly replacing the original seigneurial chapels. The westernmost bay of the nave is clearly later than the body of the building: it is of ashlar and supports a tower. The interior tower-supporting piers have colonnettes and capitals, unlike the simple rectangular articulation of the other nave bays. The tower has threatened to collapse to the west, leading to a major campaign of reinforcing, including diagonal buttresses. The west portal has fluted pilasters and capitals reminiscent of those found at Souvigny.
