Church of St. Pancras, Yvoire

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You could not miss the steeple of Saint Pancras Church.

Its onion-shaped dome was built in the XIXth century. Due to the rust damages, it was renovated with stainless steel and gold leaves for the top bowl and cock.

A bright steeple visible far away.

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The Church of St. Pancras likely dates from the 11th century but has renovated over the years, the current steeple dates from 1854. I always think of Russian Orthodox churches when I see onion domes but the tourism website says that it also typical of "Savoyard and Piemontese religious architecture of the late nineteeth century".

The onion dome was originally tin but is now stainless steel and gold leaf, another website I found said that the former mayor of Yvoire, who gifted the architect with fresh fera (a silver bellied fish) requested "Yvoire's steeple should be the same colour as the fish's belly; it should reflect the rays of the sun and be visible from any point on the lake".

One of the landmarks in Yvoire is the church of Saint Pancras. It dates back from eleventh century when it was much smaller but renovated, rebuilt and enlarged many times since then. It has an onion-shaped dome that was built in Savoyard and Piedmontese style that was typical in late 19th century.

It was closed late in the evening but we could still see the bell tower, it can be seen from the distance anyway as it rises over Yvoire’s skyline (on clear days even from towns on the other side of the lake). It used to have tin plate covering but it was rusted badly and replaced by a new one in 1989 made by stainless steel, it’s very bright –some people may say it is ugly and doesn’t really fit with the medieval style of the village- … I agree…

When approaching Yvoire via Lake Geneva, the typical church tower is a landmark of this nice little town.