Inside the Saint Quiriace Collegiate Church

There is a rather large church beside the Caesar’s Tower and it is named the Saint Quiriace Collegiate Church. It is the church component of the nearby college and it seems to be dedicated to Saint Quiriace. I never heard of a Saint Quiriace and I could not find an information about this saint either. It is possible that the name is in French and I do not know the English equivalent. Searches on the web only turn up references to this church but not the saint. Anyway, the church here turns out to be a basilica and it seems to be disproportionately large compared to the population of the town. From the outside, the basilica seems to be massive. The church itself gives the impression that it is very tall. The dome is one of the special features of the church as it is the highest point of the church and it is visible for miles. Together with the tower, they are the tallest structures here in Provins.

The inside of the church was surprisingly bare. There was a lot of light in the church and I though it was a bit unique since most of the churches I have been to have been quite dark. This one lets a lot of light in to the building. Add to that the fact that the walls are white. The church is Gothic in design and it shows. The columns of the church are very tall as with most gothic churches. The structure could easily be four stories high. The roof itself was not decorated that much when compared to the much fancier churches I have seen elsewhere. The church wasn’t completed until the 1700 due to lack of funds. If you ask me, it still seems incomplete. There weren’t even enough pews here and although there were chairs. The windows weren’t even using stained glass as it typical of Gothic church. Perhaps it was really incomplete, however it is already nice enough as it is. It does have that feel of authenticity.

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