European Heritage Days - Church of Saint Laurent in La Côte d'Aime

It occupies roughly the same site as the earlier chapel of Saint Laurent and it was from this chapel that the chevet of the choir of the church was built.
It was originally called the church and parish of Saint Amédée de La Côte. In fact, the first patron saint of La Côte was never canonised, but was the "blessed Amédée IX", who was Duke of Savoy from 1465 to 1472 and who married Yolande, sister of the French king, Louis XI. He was probably chosen as the patron saint because his name, Amédée, was the second name of the reigning Duke, Victor-Amédée, who facilitated the disunion with Aime.
Moreover, this same blessed Amédée IX was the son of Duke Louis, who in 1442 made over ("albergé") to the people of La Côte the territory that has retained more or less the same boundaries to this day. The French word "albergé" means that the inhabitants of La Côte became the owners of this land stretching from the river Isère to the "Grande Parey".
To honour the Blessed Amédée IX, the parishioners put up a painting of him at the top of the high altar, holding a scroll on which is written "Practice discernment and justice and cherish the poor".
Under the porch: a mural depicting the four Evangelists with their attributes.
The church has three naves, three bays, a gallery and a choir. The rood beam is highly decorated and supported on either side by cherubs. On the beam, Christ on the cross is surrounded by Mary and Saint John.
The main altarpiece was remodelled in the 19th century using elements from the old altarpiece sculpted in 1658 by François Cuénot for the chapel of Saint Laurent.
The central painting depicts Saint Laurent on the left with the grill, Saint Peter holding the keys and the Virgin Mary in Assumption above. On the left is Saint Peter, on the right Saint Paul, above Amédée IX, to the left Saint Agathe, patron saint of Pierrolaz, celebrated on 5 February, and to the right Saint Roch.
The tabernacle dates from the 19th century.
The door depicts the Good Shepherd.
The Rosary altarpiece depicts the Virgin Mary giving the rosary to Saint Dominic and Catherine of Siena and, above, the Virgin Mary crowned by the Trinity.
The altarpiece dedicated to Saint Joseph features a painting of Saint Joseph and Saint Anthony. Above, Christ, God the Father and the dove of the Holy Spirit represent the Trinity. The pulpit features sculptures of the four Evangelists and the Good Shepherd is depicted on the backboard.
This church has not undergone any significant alterations since it was built, apart from the bell tower which, in 1728, in addition to the large cross at the top surmounted by the "cockerel", had four smaller ones at each corner, surmounted by belfries.