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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assumption of Mathieu, located in Calvados, is a Catholic building dating back to the 12th century. At that time, around 1200, it was dependent on Hambye Abbey. Its Romanesque architecture is still visible today, especially in the nave, which presents a wall of fish ridge, as well as carved modillons of grimaçant figures, described by Arcisse de Caumont as particularly prominent. The choir, also from the 12th century, was modified in the 15th century with an extension, and a 13th century door remains there.

In the 17th century, the church underwent a major transformation: two spans of the nave were removed, and a gable wall was erected in their place. Work continued in the 18th and 19th centuries, with notable interventions in 1833 and 1849. Between 1886 and 1889, painter Louis Chifflet, known for his work at Saint-Vigor's church in Athis-de-l'Orne, decorated the interior of the building. It represents the tree of Jesse and the baptism of Christ, giving the church an exceptional iconographic richness.

The church's stained glass windows also illustrate its artistic history. Those of bays 0 to 6, made in 1889 by the workshops Lorin de Chartres, and those of bays 7 to 10, created in 1939 by Georges Sagot, glass painter of Bayeux, have been protected since the building's inscription to historical monuments in 2006. Bay 0, dedicated to the Assumption, was replaced in 1970 by two lancettes, marking a recent evolution of its glass heritage.

The church thus embodies nearly nine centuries of history, mixing medieval heritage, modern transformations and sacred decorations. Its inscription in 2006 underscores the value of its interior, where Romanesque architecture, 19th century murals and stained-glass windows of the 19th and 20th centuries coexist.

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