Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of the Nativity-de-la-Sainte-Vierge stands in Forest-l'Abbaye, on the edge of the forest of Crécy, in the department of the Somme. His choir, in Romanesque style, dates back to the 12th century, while his nave, destroyed during the Spanish incursions around 1635, was rebuilt in wood and torchis in the middle of the 17th century. The building thus combines two distinct architectural epochs, with Romanesque openings and a hybrid structure.

According to tradition, the early church was founded by the Templars, as evidenced by a cross and a horseman hunting a boar engraved on the stone of the altar. A legend reports that the Templars had brought back a relic of Saint Blaise, now kept in the town hall. In 1920, the church was classified as a historical monument, and excavations in 1982 revealed a tombstone and the original ground.

The building is also distinguished by its materials: stone for the choir, wood and torchis for the nave. A fragmented tombstone, discovered in 1982, and the primitive soil discovered during this work, add to its historical mystery. The 1920 protection underscores its heritage importance in the Hauts-de-France region, marked by its medieval past and post-conflict reconstructions.

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