Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint John the Baptist of Nemours came into being in the 12th century, when Gautier I of Nemours welcomed Augustine religious from Sébastre in 1145, carrying a relic of Saint John the Baptist. Around 1170, these monks built a first church, of which today the Romanesque tower-clocher remains, enlarged in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This tower, 60 meters high, marks the starting point of a building that will evolve for five centuries.

In the 15th century, after the destruction of the Hundred Years War and a fire, reconstruction was decided. Between 1510 and 1550, the bedside, choir and radiant chapels were erected in a flamboyant Gothic style, as evidenced by the bentier dated 1547. The work, however, was interrupted during the Wars of Religion, for lack of funding, and the church was consecrated only in 1595, unfinished. The nave, begun with twisted columns, remained open until the 17th century.

The resumption of work in 1631, under the direction of a royal architect based in Fontainebleau, allowed the nave and its arch of apparent chestnut wood to be completed, imitating a stone arch. The large organs, installed in 1654 by artisans Henri Heurteau and Charles Veniat, replaced an instrument of 1566, while furniture and stained glass were enriched in the 19th century under the impulse of Abbé Grabut. Since 1650, the structure has no longer been modified, preserving its original appearance.

Ranked a historical monument in 1977, the church is distinguished by its blend of styles: the Romanesque tower, the nave enhanced in the seventeenth century, and the Gothic bedside of the sixteenth century, surrounded by three bell tower chapels. Inside, the walk-in, the historiated glass windows (including the 1550 one representing the offering of relics by Gautier de Nemours), and the neo-Gothic high altar of 1890 illustrate his artistic and religious heritage.

The furniture also includes sculptures by Justin-Chrysostome Sanson (Saints Pierre and Jean-Baptiste, Pietà), a triptych by Nicolas Guy Brenet (1770), and bells like Philippe, deposited in 1990. The stained glass windows of the lower side, financed by local notables in the 19th century, complete this whole, reflecting the devotions and history of the Nemourian community.

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