Saint Amand de Coly, France - June 25, 2011

Saint-Amand-de-Coly is the name of both the community and the church in this village of 380 people. The church is a 12th century fortified Romanesque design. Its defences include walls that are 4m thick, a ditch running around the perimeter, numerous positions for archers and assorted blind stairways to mislead attackers. The church was constructed on the site of an earlier abbey chapel and was largely reconstructed during the 19th-20th centuries to produce an unusual combination of gothic and roman styles.
The village is traditional Dordogne - houses with tiled roofs and yellow stone walls with a few still topped with traditional stone roofs. The village however, is dominated by its church.
The church was built next to the abbey which has long since been in ruins and the church itself was extensively damaged during the 100 years war. It was the French Revolution however that finally ended Saint Amand's role as a religious centre. More pictures of this unusual village here.