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Origin and history

The church of the Nativity-de-la-Sainte-Vierge of Mézy-Moulins, located in Aisne, is mentioned for the first time between 1108 and 1126 under the episcopate of Lisiard de Crépy, bishop of Soissons. The cure then depended alternately on the Clunisian priory of Coincy and the Jouarre abbess. Its importance is perhaps explained by its strategic position: the village, located at a passage from the Marne and at the crossing of major roads (Soissons-Troyes and Châlons-Lagny), housed a bridge destroyed in 1172 and mills. A local tradition, unproven, evokes a proximity to a Templar house, a hypothesis advanced to justify the architectural richness of this rural church.

The building, built in the 12th and 15th centuries, escaped major conflicts such as the invasion of Thibaud IV of Champagne (1229-1230), the Hundred Years War or the wars of religion. However, the bell tower collapsed in 1670, causing the partial destruction of the vault and the jube. The reconstruction, completed in 1685, modified certain elements (triforium closed, bow-buttons taken over). Ranked a historic monument in 1862, the church, in poverty state in the nineteenth century, was restored from 1904, with an interruption during the First World War. The works, led by architects Émile Brunet and J. Tillet, were completed in 1933.

Architecturally, the church is distinguished by its basilical plane without transept, a nave with four spans with low sides, and a long choir of an apse with seven sides. Its elevation to three levels (large arcades, triforium, high windows) is atypical for a rural church, reminiscent of such models as the Orbais Abbey. The facade, adorned with a twelve ray rosette, and the adjacent cemetery, housing a classified cross, complete this heritage complex. The dimensions (27 m long, 13 m wide, 13.90 m under vault) underline its magnitude for a village of that time.

The land of Mézy belonged to the Counts of Champagne, and his cure was confirmed in 1183 by Bishop Nivelon of Quierzy among the donations to the priory of Coincy, dependent on Cluny. This clunisian tutelage lasted until the seventeenth century, as evidenced by the perception of tithes by the COMMANDARY prior in 1668. The absence of damage during the wars and the quality of its construction (related to its geographical location) make it a rare witness to medieval religious architecture in Picardia.

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