Church of Saint Michael, Saint-Michel (Charente): Overall view, showing octagonal form and radiating chapels

A Romanesque church from the twelfth century built in an octagonal form with eight radiating chapels which open onto a central rotunda. It is capped by a dome 13 meters in diameter, octagonal, surmounted by a lantern. The tympanum of the portal shows St Michael slaying the dragon. It was built under the auspices of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de La Couronne as a refuge for pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela. It was classified a historical monument in 1840 and restored by the architect Paul Abadie in the 1850s. There is a separate, freestanding campanile.