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Origin and history

The Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul of Forcelles-Saint-Gorgon, first mentioned in 1176, is an emblematic 12th century religious building. Its architecture combines a pentagonal apse, a stone bell tower covered in a building, and a vaulted nave of warheads. The first span of the chorus, of square plane, presents salient warheads based on carved supports, typical of late Romanesque art.

The choir, composed of two spans (one vault of warheads, the other in cul-de-four), and the five-sided apse also date from the 12th century. The nave, more recent, dates back to the sixteenth century. The bell tower was restored in 1725 by the entrepreneurs Jacques de Serre and Pierre Malbert, as evidenced by the historical archives. Only the choir and the bell tower have been protected under the Historic Monuments since 1926.

The church illustrates the architectural evolution of Lorraine, mixing Romanesque elements (abside, bell tower) and Gothic or posterior additions (nef). Its design and decorative details, like the claws decorated with supports, underline its heritage importance in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, anchored in the medieval history of the Great East.

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