Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame d'Eve, located in the village of Eve (Oise, Hauts-de-France), is a composite building dating back to the twelfth century, with the construction of a Romanesque bell tower. The latter, partially preserved, bears witness to a sober architecture, characterized by curved berries and flat-leaf capitals. In the 13th century, the church was enlarged with the addition of a Gothic choir of two spans, accompanied by a north side. This choir, of remarkable architectural quality, incorporates arches with warheads and capitals carved of hooks, reflecting the innovative currents of the time.

The Hundred Years War marks a turning point: the Romanesque nave, located west of the bell tower, is destroyed. In the 16th century, an ambitious reconstruction transformed the former Gothic choir into a nave and extended the building eastward, adding a five-sided apse and a south side. The western facade, dissymmetric and richly decorated, integrates the Romanesque bell tower into a flamboyant ensemble, adorned with pinnacles, fantastic animals and a network of windows with arms. The octagonal arrow, culminating at 44 meters, is erected around 1540, while the bedside windows, dated from the same period, illustrate scenes of the sleep and the Assumption of the Virgin.

The church underwent major changes in the 19th century, including the restoration of stained glass in 1873 and the consolidation of the bell tower in 1881, after damage due to its inclination. Partially classified as early as 1862 (clocher and stained glass), it was fully protected in 1987 as a historical monument. Today affiliated with the parish of Notre-Dame de la Visitation du Haudouin, it hosts special celebrations. Its furniture includes funerary slabs from the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as an exceptional Renaissance window, classified and restored several times.

The interior architecture reveals a superfposition of styles: the base of the bell tower, remodeled, preserves Romanesque traces, while the nave and the lower side combine Gothic elements (gothic, capital) and flamboyant elements (lierne vaults, wavy pillars). Leabside, sober and luminous, houses Renaissance reamped windows, designed to highlight stained glass windows. Outside, the facade, considered one of the richest in the diocese of Senlis, contrasts with the more austere lateral elevations, in uncoated bellows.

The classified furniture includes eight funerary slabs, three of which are visible, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the bedside window, attributed to the school of Fontainebleau. These elements, combined with statues such as a Mater Dolorosa or a Saint Sebastian, underline the religious and memorial role of the building. The church, a communal property, remains a major testimony of architectural and artistic evolution in Picardia, from the beginnings of Gothic art to the Renaissance.

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