Saint Peter's Church in Aulnay

On the border between Poitou and Saintonge, on the Way of St. James, the 12th-century Church of Saint-Pierre in Aulnay is a true masterpiece of Poitevin Romanesque art. In an exceptional state of preservation, it overlooks a collection of curious tombstones and the 15th-century Hosanna Cross. On the west façade, the central portal, once surmounted by an equestrian statue of Constantine, magnificently illustrates the theme of the "Saintonge sermon." The south portal, the jewel of the church, is remarkable for its four archivolts adorned with the Bestiary, the Elders of the Apocalypse, the Apostles, and the Prophets.