Founded in 1521 by Imbert de Batarnay, Lord of Montrésor, as a family burial place and devoted to St. John the Baptist, it was immediately elevated to the rank of collegiate church, housing a chapter of five, then twelve, canons.

While its architecture reflects the late Gothic period, its interior and exterior decoration bear the imprint of the early French Renaissance.

The restoration of the Batarnay tomb is one of the most symbolic interventions of this period, as is the interior decoration of the church, featuring paintings from the Italian Renaissance and classical schools.

Breaking with the usual orientation of Christian religious buildings, its main portal faces north-west, and its apse points south-east.

[2] Until the 19th century, when it was filled in, an artificial moat dug into the plateau in medieval times protected the site on which the château and collegiate church stood to the north.

[3] Two drawbridges, one of which was later replaced by a ramp and the other by a fixed bridge (Pont Bouvet), gave the squires direct access to the collegiate church by crossing the castle moat on what is now Rue Potocki.

[4] Around 1520, Imbert de Batarnay, lord of Bridoré and Montrésor, had the idea of founding a collegiate church in which he and his family would be buried.

[6] However, in 1521, for unknown reasons, Imbert de Batarnay changed his mind and decided that the foundation would ultimately take place in Montrésor, not far from his Renaissance dwelling, as the 13th-century castral chapel was probably too cramped; construction began in March 1522.

[12] Work soon resumed, however, given that around 1550, at the instigation of René de Batarnay, Imbert's son, a chapel was built against the south side of the choir.

It was dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, in homage to the Basilica della Santa Casa, in the Italian province of Ancona, whose pilgrimages were renowned at the time.

[17] In 1789, with the French Revolution, the chapter of canons was dissolved and the church was placed in the hands of the Nation in application of the decree of November 2, 1789.

[12] The church was listed as a protected historic monument in 1840, but in 1853, the mayor of Montrésor wrote to the prefect expressing concern about the building's state of disrepair;[nb 1][21] in the same year, the Société archéologique de Touraine sent a commission to investigate the state of the Batarnay tomb, which had been demolished but with most of its more or less damaged parts stored in the church.

[31]The façade, flanked by two angled buttresses, opens onto a portal formed by twin basket-handle doors separated by a trumeau, topped by a tympanum of five shell niches housing statues.

While on the south side of the nave, the style is typical of the late Gothic period, with a double tier of pinnacles and volutes, on the north side, the Renaissance style is clearly applied, and they are decorated with coats of arms, many of which, damaged during the French Revolution, are difficult to identify; it is even possible to observe, at chevet level, "composite" buttresses comprising a single tier of volutes and pinnacles (Gothic) topped by a coat of arms (Renaissance).

[36] A slab on the floor in the center of the choir marks the site of the Batarnay family crypt, which, until the Revolution, was surmounted by the mausoleum.

[40] The tympanum surmounting the main portal features niches separated by colonnettes and housing statues, most of which were decapitated or mutilated during the French Revolution, but in which biblical figures (apostles, evangelists, etc.)

[43] The Batarnay tomb,[44] located in the middle of the choir, was demolished in 1793, but numerous fragments were recovered and hidden in the vault above the monument.

[45] A commission of members of the Société archéologique de Touraine visited the site in 1853 to assess the feasibility of restoring the tomb.

[22][45] It wasn't until 1875, at the instigation of Countess Branicka, that the tomb was restored by architect Roguet and sculptor Breuil,[45] as evidenced by an inscription on the monument.

Before the French Revolution, these niches, set against a black marble background, housed alabaster statuettes representing the Twelve Apostles and the Four Evangelists; only twelve of these were able to be put back in place, after restoration following the mutilations of the Revolution (decapitation, in many cases), and four are missing;[48] the north side of the tomb, which faces the nave wall, is completely devoid of them.

[54] While the execution of the tombstones can be attributed to the workshop of Michel Colombe and his successors, such as Guillaume Regnault, or Martin Claustre,[34] the statues on the plinth are more likely the work of the Italian school.

[21] On the opposite wall of the transept crossing hangs a late 17th-century painting by an unknown artist, depicting Saint Blaise.

[nb 3][72] In the sacristy, a 16th-century wooden statue of Notre-Dame de Lorette stands above an altar,[73] a reminder that this was once a chapel dedicated to this saint.

[20] They are decorated with medallions, most of which feature motifs from the church's exterior frieze, and are fitted with mercy-seats enabling canons to lean on them during the standing part of services.

[78] In addition to the statue of Saint Roch, the south transept cross houses various items of furniture from the same chapel, such as an altar and an altarpiece.

[34][79] A rock-crystal altar cross, possibly from the Château de Versailles,[80] and a bust with a hollowed-out medallion for enshrining relics[81] are also among the objects protected as historic monuments.

The walls of the corridors linking the transept crosspieces to the seigneurial chapels are almost entirely covered with graffiti engraved in stone, most of which are ex voto or simple tokens of a visitor's passage.