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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame de Nogent-le-Rotrou, located in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, is an emblematic monument whose construction spans the 12th, 13th and 17th centuries. Originally, his central nave served as a chapel at the Hôtel-Dieu founded between 1182 and 1190, as evidenced by the texts mentioning this establishment in 1200. Stylistic markers, such as quadripartite dogid vaults and hooked capitals, confirm this late dating of the twelfth century, extended to the early 13th century by further work, including a frame dated by dendrochronology between 1211 and 1218.

The collaterals, rebuilt in the early 19th century after the church was erected as a parish in 1802, incorporate 14th and 15th century elements in their lower parts. The funeral chapel joined the choir, added in the seventeenth century, houses the tombs of Maximilian of Bethune, Duke of Sully, minister of Henry IV, and his wife Rachel of Cochevilet. Their mausoleum, decorated with ornament sculptures, reflects the historical importance of the Sully family, lords of Nogent-le-Rotrou. The building, classified as a Historical Monument in 1907 for its nave and in 1949 for the chapel, thus illustrates the architectural and social evolution of the city, marked by its religious and hospitable role since the Middle Ages.

The church's basilical structure, without transept and with flat bedside, combines local materials such as Nogent's stone and various techniques: brick and plaster vaults, panelled frames, and slate covers. The 19th century transformations, including the reconstruction of the collaterals and the addition of plaster vaults, met its new parish status. These modifications partially mask the original medieval elements, such as the arched arches kept in the attic, showing the successive adaptations of the building to the cultural and urban needs.

The historical context of Nogent-le-Rotrou, a fortified city and the seat of a powerful seigneury, explains the presence of this monument in the heart of a dense urban fabric, between the castle Saint John and the former hotel-God. The city, marked by its membership in Perche and its role as a sub-prefecture since 1800, has preserved this heritage as a symbol of its identity, between medieval heritage and post-revolutionary modernizations. The Notre Dame church thus embodies the continuity between the hospital past of the city and its subsequent urban development.

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