Jardin de sculpture romane de Lozay

The Romanesque Sculpture Garden, in Lozay, is an open-air museum dedicated to the Romanesque art of Saintonge. Created in 1996 by the South of France freeways and the departmental council, it is located on a rest area of the A10 freeway. It is accessible free of charge, both by the freeway and by the departmental road 107.

This space offers an introduction to the Romanesque art of Saintonge through total or partial reconstructions of emblematic monuments of the Romanesque Saintonge. Visitors can observe a model of the lantern of the dead of Fenioux or the facade of the church of Echebrune, as well as a series of capitals and sculptures scattered among the vegetation, faithful reproductions made following traditional techniques by companions of the Tour de France.

The Romanesque art of Saintonge is characterized by generally modest constructions, adapted to a rural society, by a balance of the masses and by a profusion of sculptures, in particular on the frontages but also on the walls of the chevet. Certain iconographic themes are recurrent: the old men of the Apocalypse, the wise and foolish virgins, the fight of vices and virtues in particular. The Romanesque bestiary is rich in fantastic animals or exotic ones. Profane scenes are sometimes represented on the capitals and modillions.