Tors, tordu, tourné, torsadé, vrillé and even hélicoïdal, my French vocabulary is rapidly expanding. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe the strange phenomenon of spires that are twisted or not quite in kilter.
In the Association des Clochers Tors d’Europe (yes, it does really exist), there are 24 such spires in Germany, four in Switzerland, just three in England but between 70 and 80 in France. And in a little-known area of Pays de la Loire, le Baugeois in Maine-et-Loire, there are no fewer than six within a 10-mile radius of Baugé-en-Anjou. This was enough for me to want to go and see them for myself in order to try to get to the very bottom of this intriguing phenomenon.
A church spire on the horizon is often the first thing you’ll see when approaching a village, pointing heavenwards above the treetops or fields of corn. It indicates the physical center of the village – put Rue de l’Église into your sat nav and it will invariably take you to the Place Centrale – but it also symbolizes the center of the community.
If the spire is not straight as an arrow (une flèche translates as ‘spire’ as well as ‘arrow’), and is not pointing straight to heaven, then maybe something is not right in the community – and this way legends are born.
Popular legends
The first church I visited was in Le Vieil-Baugé, which adjoins Baugé-en-Anjou, a Petite Cité de Caractère about 30 miles north-east of Angers. The church spire of Saint-Symphorien is twisted and it leans to one side, resembling for all the world a witch’s hat.
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Denne historien er fra March 2020-utgaven av France.
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