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Origin and history

Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne Basilica, also known as Notre-Dame-des-Menus, is the oldest parish church in Boulogne-Billancourt. Its origin dates back to 1319, when Philippe V le Long (son of Philip IV the Bel) realized his father's wish: to build near Paris a replica of the basilica of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a place of a medieval Marian pilgrimage linked to a legend of the seventh century. The miraculous statue of the Virgin, discovered in a boat stranded in 633, inspired this royal project. The church was erected in the village of Menus-les-Saint-Cloud, chosen for its landscape evoking an arm of sea, and became a sanctuary in its own right in 1330 under the name Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne-la-Petite.

The building, an international Gothic architecture, was looted during the Revolution and restored in 1860 by Eugène Millet, disciple of Viollet-le-Duc. The latter favoured the style of the 14th century, adding an arrow and a western facade, while preserving the original plan (unique nave, overflowing transept, seven-sided bedside). Ranked a historic monument in 1862, the church was decorated from 1865 to 1872 by artists such as Émile Hirsch (Vitraux) and Charles Lameire (paintings). His status as a minor basilica, obtained in January 2025, made him the first of the diocese of Nanterre, recognizing his secular Marian influence.

The founding legend links Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne to a 7th century miracle: a Virgin with the Child, discovered in a boat without crew in Boulogne-sur-Mer, would have inspired a pilgrimage as important as Compostela. Philip IV the Bel, after having attended the marriage of his daughter Isabelle in the original sanctuary (1308), ordered the creation of a replica near Paris. The site of Les Menus, with its Seine evoking an estuary, was considered suitable. The golden silver statue offered by Philip V, now gone, symbolized this link between the two basilicas. The "Great Return" (1943–1948), a traveling pilgrimage of four statues of the Virgin during the Second World War, continued this devotion.

In the 19th century, Napoleon III financed the restoration of the building, entrusted to Eugene Millet, who reinterpreted medieval Gothic by modernising the volumes (elongation of the nave, northern sacristy). The interior decorations, led by Just Lisch, combine paintings, stained glass and sculptures in a neo-Gothic style. In 2024, the diocese of Nanterre obtained from the Vatican the rank of minor basilica, highlighting its role as a diocesan sanctuary and its history of pilgrimage. An oratory dedicated to Saint Carlo Acutis, the first "geek of God" canonized in 2025, was set up for young people, with a tabernacle installed on the day of his feast (7 September).

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