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Origin and history

The church of the Nativity-de-Notre-Dame d'Émiéville, located in the department of Calvados in Normandy, was a religious building of Romanesque origin, with major modifications dated from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. According to Arcisse de Caumont, these later works altered its original historical character, leaving as a remarkable element only its tower, built between the 16th and 17th centuries. The church was classified as a historic monument on March 18, 1927, but its existence ended during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, during Operation Goodwood, where it was destroyed.

The original building featured a nave and a Romanesque choir, partially redesigned over the centuries. After its destruction, a new church, called Notre-Dame, was built between 1956 and 1958 to replace it. The 19th century archaeologist Henri Heuzé's photographic archives, as well as the descriptions of Arcisse de Caumont in his monumental Statistique du Calvados (1850), remain the main sources documenting its architecture and history.

The exact location of the old church is now marked by the address 14 Rue Saint-Rosaire in Émiéville, although only its bell tower was officially protected before its destruction. The site, owned by the commune, retains heritage value despite the disappearance of the original building, linked to the conflicts of the Second World War.

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