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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Carvin, located in Pas-de-Calais, is a rare example of baroque architecture in northern France, of Flemish Renaissance style. Built in the early 18th century, it replaces a 13th century Romanesque church destroyed by fire in the 17th century. This first building was built on the foundations of an oratory founded by Saint Martin in 380. After the fires of 1640 and 1656, only the three naves remained under a temporary roof. In 1666 Louise de Béthune, wife of Guillaume de Melun, was buried there, followed by her husband in 1679. Their burial will be desecrated during the Revolution to recover precious metals.

During the Revolutionary Terror (1793), the objects of worship and three of the four bells were sent to Arras to be melted. The church then houses the first municipal election, while its tower hosts, from 1794, a Chappe telegraph linking Lille to Paris, used until 1846. The 57-metre high tower served as a watchtower during World War I. In 1917 an accidental fire destroyed the remaining bells, and in 1918 the Germans gave up in extremis to dynamit it, unlike the nearby church of Seclin.

Ranked a historic monument in 1921, the church was restored between 1957 and 1960, then again since 2009 (stone and stained glass). Its organ, rebuilt in 1847 by François-Joseph Carlier and restored in 1989, is one of the most renowned in the region. The tower, nicknamed "the crowned square tower", dominates the district of Carvin Nord and symbolizes the local religious and historical heritage.

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