Saint-Martial de Limoges, the abbey church of the Saviour. The Romanesque chevet according to textual and graphic documentation

The Romanesque abbey church of the Saviour was destroyed between 1791 and 1807. We have thus lost one of the major monuments of the 11th century. However, various texts document the history of the building and a remarkable collection of 18th-century plans and drawings allow us to reconstruct the main lines of its architecture. What is more, knowledge of the monument has been renewed by the excavations of 2014-2016, which revealed the underlying structures of the ambulatory and radiating chapels, begun in 1017-1018 and dedicated in 1028. Study of the graphic evidence and the texts suggests that a fire in 1043 was followed by a major restoration campaign on the eastern parts of the building, a campaign which was completed in 1063 with the setting up of the white marble altar table, a commission of abbot Odolric (1025-1040). The three eastern bays of the nave were undoubtedly complete at this date. The work on the nave was completed by the Cluniac abbot, Ademar de Lauriere (1063-1114) and it was he who was also responsible for an ensemble of wall paintings. On the other hand, we have no text to document the building of the tower porch at the entrance to the abbey church. It is only known from the early graphic evidence.