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Origin and history

The church Notre-Dame de Châteauroux is a neo-Romane building built between 1877 and 1892 in the Indre department, in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It replaces an old old church in the Faubourg des Capucins, demolished despite successive restorations in the 19th century. Its current location, near the Porte Neuve, was chosen to serve the expanding Marins. The plans were entrusted to the departmental architect Alfred Dauvergne, who opted for a neo-Roman style inspired by the auvergnat novel, with a polychromy marked by various stones.

Construction was initiated by the factory council and the inhabitants, anxious to respond to the population growth of the neighborhood. The building adopts a Latin cross plan with three ships, with a walk-through and radiant chapels. An octagonal tower crosses the transept. The sculptures, made by Narcisse Girault-Dupin, adorn the capitals illustrating scenes of holy history. The stained glass windows, laid in 1882, come from the Parisian workshops Oudinot and Tourangeaux Lobin. The church was listed as historical monuments in 2009.

The main organ, by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1890), was modified in 1965 by Robert Boisseau, who added a positive back and reharmonized the games. A choir organ, built by Boisseau in 1964, completes the musical ensemble. These instruments reflect the evolution of organizational styles, from romanticism to classicism. The building remains a major architectural and artistic testimony of the late 19th century in the region.

The church depends on the archdiocese of Bourges and the parish of La Resurrection. Its history reflects the urban and religious dynamics of Châteauroux in the industrial era, where expanding suburbs required new places of worship. The demolition of the old church of the Capuchins, despite the restoration efforts led by André Bisson, illustrates the challenges posed by the modernization of religious infrastructures in the 19th century.

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