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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Aquilin de Fontenay-en-Parisis, located in Val-d Its origins date back to the late 11th century, with Romanesque remains still visible in the southern wall of the south side and the base of the bell tower. The nave, rebuilt in the third quarter of the 12th century, features third-point arcades and primitive Gothic capitals, while the choir, built between 1200 and 1260, adopts a rare sexpartite vaulting for a rural church. The arrow, culminating at 44 meters, and the Renaissance modifications, such as the baptismal chapel of 1583, testify to its architectural evolution.

The first written mention of the church dates from the beginning of the 12th century, linked to a donation to the abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. In the 13th century, the choir was enlarged with an atypical walkway, lacking radiant chapels, and sexpartite dogive vaults. The relics of Saint Aquilin, offered between 909 and 926, and a fragment of the True Cross given by Saint Louis in the 13th century, reinforce his prestige. These elements attract pilgrims, promoting donations that explain the size of the building in a small village.

In the 16th century, damage related to religious conflicts (especially after the Battle of Saint-Denis in 1567) led to the partial reconstruction of the walk-by and the high windows of the abside. The overturned frame, added at the same time, obstructs the high windows of the nave, except one. The Baptist chapel, commissioned in 1583 by the parish priest Germain Pluyette to master mason Nicolas de Saint-Michel, marks the last extension of the church. Pluyette, a family of parish priests and theologians, influenced parish life until the 17th century.

Ranked a historic monument in 1886, the church underwent exterior restorations, including that of the bell tower in 1906 by Gabriel Ruprich-Robert, who removed the pyrmidids from the arrow. A complete restoration of the exterior, completed in 2013, contrasts with an interior unchanged since the 19th century, preserving 16th century stalls, a 17th century organ and controversial murals. The building, now attached to the diocese of Pontoise, remains an exceptional testimony of religious architecture in Île-de-France.

The church is distinguished by its irregular plane, with a nave not arched, a choir with a walkway reduced to three spans, and an apse without a right part. Large asymmetrical arcades, various capitals and 13th century triangular windows illustrate bold architectural choices. The western facade, redesigned during the Renaissance, includes a monumental bay and adorned foothills. The bell tower, with its Gothic abat-sound bays and octagonal arrow, dominates the landscape, visible from a distance thanks to its position on a promontory.

The classified furniture includes copies of paintings by Nicolas Poussin (18th century), medieval stalls of Saint-Victor Abbey, and a Louis XIII organ buffet. The now missing relics, like the fragment of the True Cross and those of Saint Aquilin, underline his past spiritual role. Despite transformations (upgrading of the ground in 1778, brushing in the 19th century), the church preserves rare Romanesque elements, such as the low bays of the south side, and traces of ancient polychromy.

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