Saint-Aubert Church of Proville dans le Nord

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Aubert de Proville, dedicated to the bishop of Cambrai of the 7th century, replaces a Gothic building destroyed under the Second Empire for its lack of scope. In medieval times, his prebend was linked to Notre-Dame de Cambrai, confirmed by Innocent III in 1142, and was used for the maintenance of the clergy. The village, owned by the Church, was named after Puerorum Villa.

The present church, designed by the diocesan architect Henri de Baralle, was completed in 1869 in a neo-Roman style combining bricks and limestone, characteristic of Cambresis. This style is also found in the nearby churches of Saint-Druon (Cambrai) or Saint-Rémy (Neuville-Saint-Rémy). The building was completely destroyed in November 1917 at the Battle of Cambrai, which razed 90% of the village, previously evacuated.

An identical reconstruction began in 1925, leading to the consecration of the new church on 3 June 1928. Its architecture preserves the original features: a bell tower topped by a d'ardoise arrow, hexagonal turrets, a nave flanked by bottoms, and a semicircular apse. Today, it is part of the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Cambrai, in a village whose population increased from 2,239 in 1975 to 3,419 in 2009.

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