Coussay-les-Bois has the particularity of having two churches, a few meters apart: the Saint-Martin church, now disused, and the Notre-Dame church, today the only parish church. The latter, built from the 12th century, has the originality of being the only church in Poitou whose nave is covered with domes.
The Notre-Dame church is located in the northern part of the town, just off the main street, with a small square to its sides. The lower part of the bell tower, with its blind arcatures and its cornice with modillions. as well as the two arms of the transept seem to be the oldest parts of the building (1st half of the 12th century), followed shortly by the nave (mid-12th century). The choir and the flat apse were built in the 15th century, and the western facade in the 19th.
The history of the nave can be read on its walls. The latter were initially lower than today, as shown by the cornice with modillions still visible on the south wall, now below the level of the roof. This same wall retains traces of an old Romanesque portal, the door of which has been bricked up.
Also at the start of the project, we had to imagine a framework above the nave, but very quickly the idea of domes, like theFontevraud Abbey, came to modify the plans: a half-dome and a dome were built above the two bays of the nave, supported on double engaged columns and, outside, on powerful buttresses. Another dome covers the crossing under the bell tower. Cross ribs were placed in the 13th century in the arms of the transept.