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Origin and history

The church Saint-Pierre-au-Marché de Laon, located in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region, dates mainly from the 12th century, with traces of an older foundation attributed to Clotilde in 545. It was rebuilt in the early 12th century and had a cloister adjacent to its southern face, with four doors. The building, originally named Saint-Pierre du Haut du Cloître, later took the name of Saint-Pierre-au-Marché, then that of Notre-Dame-au-Marché after the destruction of the neighbouring church in 1595.

The church was located in the district of Saint-Georges, the oldest part of Laon, which was profoundly redesigned when the citadel was built in 1595. His illustrious parishioners included members of the Mac-Mahon family, who had fled after the fall of the Stuarts in 1688. Claude de Mac-Mahon was buried there in 1747, as was Marie-Marguerite Mac-Arty in 1776. The building also housed a chapter attested from the 11th century, which gained in importance in 1128 with the creation of twelve prebends.

Sold as a national property in 1791, the church lost its apse and was partially transformed into a home in 1842. Today, the southern wall of the nave, dating from the early 12th century, with its characteristic cornice and modillons remains. The monument was included in the inventory of Historic Monuments in 1934, protecting notably the cornice of the south wall, a witness of its Romanesque architecture.

Excavations revealed the foundations of the southern absidiole, confirming its original elongated plan, probably completed by an apse. The current roof, in mechanical tiles, covers what remains of the old nave. The church, originally attached to the chapter of Saint-Jean-au-Bourg in 1702, illustrates the transformations suffered by the religious heritage after the Revolution, between abandonment and reallocation.

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