AIRVAULT
. The former abbey church of Saint-Pierre at Airvault (Deux-Sèvres) was founded under
the patronage of Aldéarde, the late 10th-century viscountess of Thouars. This community
of Augustinian canons regular experienced a period of revival and expansion in the late
11th century under Abbot Pierre de Saine-Fontaine, who initiated the construction of a
new church (consecrated 1110).
The building has an apse with an ambulatory and three radiating chapels, a transept
with apsidioles off each arm, and a nave with aisles; it is preceded by an inexplicably off-
center narthex. In the 13th century, the square pillars of the transept and choir were
reconstructed in the Gothic style. Likewise, the apse, choir, and nave were revaulted in
the Angevin manner—the aisles, however, retain their original barrel vaults—and a bell
tower with spire was added.
The heavily ornamented interior displays work from both the Romanesque and Gothic
periods. Historiated capitals depict biblical scenes, the occupations of the months, and
scenes of knights in combat. Engaged statues include representations of St. Peter, the
Virgin, St. John, and various animals. Throughout the building, vegetative and purely
ornamented forms encrust moldings and keys.
In the north arm of the transept is a cenotaph to Pierre de Saine-Fontaine (12th c.).
Nearby conventual buildings include the remains of a 15th-century Flamboyant cloister.
Nina Rowe
Grosset, Charles. “Étude sur les sculptures romanes d’Airvault.” Bulletin de la Société des
Antiquaires de l’Ouest 4th ser. 3 (1955):41–47.
Rhein, André. “Airvault.” Congrès archéologique (Angers-Saumur) 77(1910):119–29.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE
. The historic capital of Provence, Aix (Bouches-du-Rhône) has its origin in a Celto-
Iberian fortress founded in the 4th century B.C. on the plateau north of the present-day
city. That stronghold was destroyed in 123 B.C. by the Romans under Sextius Calvinus,
who, attracted by the site’s thermal springs, founded the first Roman settlement in
Transalpine Gaul, Aquae Sextiae. This settlement became the capital of Gallia
Narbonensis Secunda, but was abandoned and used as a quarry after being sacked by
Lombards in 574. Aix was a preferred residence of the counts of Aragon in the 12th and
13th centuries, then of the counts of Anjou. King René d’Anjou made it his headquarters
in 1471, but after his death in 1480 in Aix the city was merged with France. Its university
was founded in 1409.
The 13th-century Gothic chapel of the knights of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, with its
fortified apsidal tower, was built ca. 1285 in the form of a Latin cross; its bell tower dates
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