Église Saint-Étienne

The church of Ars-en-Ré, built mainly in the fifteenth century, is dedicated to Saint Etienne. This church is one of the oldest of Re. The first monument, which we have no record, was built in the eleventh century. It was then a small rectangular dependent priory of the abbey of Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm. Subsequently, in the twelfth century, were built two intersecting arches decorated with flowers and archaic interlacing which were the result of the cross-domed Romanesque style. A tower is built, but it is only thirteen feet high. To the fifteenth century, this building is destroyed the profile of the current church: it will be gothic, at a time when the Island is booming. Another tower, the highest (40 meters) replaces the old. The entire monument is Heritage in 1903.