Mystery churches revealed!

After a bit of research, I was able to pinpoint this lovely Romanesque ensemble that we saw two years ago that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. The group is located in the village of Saint-Thomé. There is a wonderful website by the village of Saint-Thome at http://www.saint-thome.fr

The two churches, located in this charming village, are the Church of Saint Thomas and the Chapelle of Saint-Sebastien. Here is a photo that I mentioned in my last post, the fence of the churchyard with the old grave markers making up part of the stonework.

Click here to see a map showing the location.

Here is a rough translation from the Saint-Thome site on the origins of the churches.

“Situated at the confluence of three rivers, Saint-Thome is a good example of a perched village of central Ardeche. At the summit of a large rock, the houses are grouped around the Church of Saint Thomas and the Chapelle of Saint-Sebastien.

The Romanesque church of Saint Thomas dates from the 10th century and has given the village its name. The Chapelle Saint Sebastien, located just across from the church, is without doubt much older, dating from the 7th or 8th century. There is an inscription from the epoque Gallo-Romain on a rock under the entry. Dating from 487, it is an epitaph of the bishop of Viviers, who lived during the reign of Alain II, a Visigoth king. ”