Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Saint-Michel de Bolbec, located in the Seine-Maritime, finds its origins in a 11th century donation to Bernay Abbey. At the end of the 18th century, the medieval building, from a plan to a Latin cross with a semi-circular choir and low side, burned during the Bolbec fire in 1765. The chapel of the Virgin was temporarily repaired in 1766, but the municipality and the duke of Charost, the local lord, opposed the reconstruction plans. The latter imposed the architect Pierre Patte, known for his neoclassical achievements.

The reconstruction began in 1773 thanks to a legacy of the Countess of Fontaine Martel. Pierre Patte abandoned his original project, which was considered too economical because of unstable foundations, and proposed a larger "modern" building. The work, awarded to the entrepreneur Pierre Aubrée, ended in 1781, with the blessing of the new church. Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld offers the high altar and pulpit, designed by Patte. Between 1785 and 1787, the stained glass windows of the transepts and the choir were made by the Rouenese master glassmaker Jules Boulanger.

In 1791 the church acquired an organ built in 1630-1631 by Guillaume Lesselier for the church of Saint-Herbland in Rouen. Modified in the 18th century by Jean-Baptiste Martin Lefebvre, this instrument, classified as a historical monument, was restored in 1998-1999. The building itself was classified in 1992. In the 19th century, the church was completed by the paving of the choir in 1842, the reconstruction of the porch in 1850, and the expansion of the lateral chapels in 1891-1894. A IF, symbol of freedom, was planted in 1945.

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