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Origin and history

The Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais church of Dixmont, located in the Yonne in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is a Gothic building dating back to the 13th century. It is distinguished by its atypical architecture: a nave bordered by low-sides without transept, surmounted by a massive 14th century bell tower. The latter, in the form of a heavy tower supported by sandstone foothills, houses a broken arched gate decorated with a tympanum representing the Coronation of the Virgin (the figures of which were beheaded during the Revolution). Inside, the Gothic pendant vault key, the 16th century stalls from the Priory of the Enfourchure, and a 14th century Virgin with Child – despite her mutilations – testify to her exceptional artistic heritage.

The parish of Dixmont, mentioned in the 9th century under the patronage of the chapter of Sens, enjoyed royal privileges during the Middle Ages under Philippe-Auguste to counter the influence of the neighbouring county of Champagne. The church, enlarged in the 12th and 13th centuries, reflects this prosperity, notably with the addition of two spans and a new bedside decorated with carved capitals. Subsequent reshuffles (XIVth–XVIth centuries) included the construction of the bell tower and the addition of lowsides, while in the 18th century the threatening vaults were replaced by a ceiling. Ranked a Historical Monument in 1967, however, the church suffered irreversible losses after Vatican II (disappearance of altars, pulpit, and furniture from the 18th to 19th centuries). An urgent restoration of the belfry, threatened by collapse, is finally carried out between 2016 and 2019.

The building retains remarkable elements such as a Renaissance statue of St Sebastian, a Gothic chair, and two bells dated 1554. The statues of the patron saints (Gervais and Protais), offered in 1732 by the parish priest, although damaged, recall his central role in community life. Today a communal property, the church is only open for ceremonies, but a local association, founded in 2014, works for its preservation. Its history reflects religious and political upheavals (Rvolution, Vatican Council II) and contemporary challenges in the conservation of rural heritage.

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