nt-Leonard-de-Vains. The base of the Romanesque tower. Inside,
the tower rests on massive piers. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-53]

[Illustration]

174. Saint-Loup. Location. Saint-Loup (also called
Saint-Loup-sous-Avranches) is located south-east of Avranches, only 6
kilometers from the town, in a hilly region close to the granite ground
of Avranches, making granite stones easily accessible.

[Illustration]

175. Saint-Loup. The church is the only entirely Romanesque building
remaining in the region. Built by the lords of Saint-Loup, the church
was under St. Loup's patronage. The second saint is St. Gilles. The
parish belonged to the deanery of Tirepied and the archidiachone of
Avranches. The nave has three rows. The north and south walls are
strenghtened by four buttresses on each side. Three small semi-circular
bays are still visible, two in the south wall and one in the north
wall. The other bays were opened or enlarged thereafter. The church was
granted the title of (French) Historic Monument in 1921. Photo by Alain
Dermigny. [Alain-093]

[Illustration]

176. Saint-Loup. The church plan. Regularly oriented from west to east,
the building is formed by a two-row nave and a three-row choir with a
semi-circular apse. The whole building has an external length of 31
meters and an external width of 8.2 meters (width of the front). The
tower rises above the first row of the choir. The north side chapel
along the second row of the choir was added in 1602 by the lords of
Saint-Loup. Plan by Marie Lebert and Bernard Beck.

[Illustration]

177. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque west front. Strenghtened by two
buttresses, the front wall is topped by a slight glacis behind which
rises the gable wall. The bay with a triangular arch above the
Romanesque gate is probably from the 13th century. Photo by Alain
Dermigny. [Alain-094]

[Illustration]

178. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque west gate. Its semi-circular arch is
formed of two grains surrounded by a archivolt, which is a chamfered
band. Each grain has the following moldings: a thick angle torus, a
listel, a shallow cavetto and a row of carved hollow saw-teeth. The
grains rest on four attached columns. Molded in quarter-round, the
capital abaci go on as an horizontal band along the wall. The baskets
are carved with rough sculptures: angle hooks or angle heads whose
features were erased with the test of time. The square bases are
adorned with a torus topp