Saint Pierre de Fontaine-Uterte Church dans l'Aisne

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Pierre de Fontaine-Uterte is located in a rural commune in the department of Aisne, in the Hauts-de-France region. The village, whose name evokes a fountain on a hill (attested as early as 1168 under Fontanis-in-Colle), is characterized by an occupation of land almost exclusively agricultural (95.5% arable land in 2018). The map of Cassini (18th century) reveals an isolated parish, without an impeded way, dominated by a local castle. The monument is thus part of a historical landscape marked by agricultural activity and low urbanization.

During the First World War, Fontaine-Uterte was occupied by the Germans from August 1914 to October 1918, serving as a rear base distant from the front of Peronne. Released on October 10, 1918 after the breakthrough of the Hindenburg line by the Franco-Australian troops, the commune, heavily damaged by the bombings, received the War Cross 1914-1918 on October 17, 1920. The memorial commemorates 10 soldiers and 2 civilians who were victims of the conflict, testifying to the suffering of this small rural community.

Architecturally, the church is part of a village whose history is also linked to its degraded ocean climate, between picardic and artesian influences. The successive cartographic representations (Cassini, General Staff, IGN) show a limited evolution in land use, preserving its agricultural character and dispersed habitat. Today, Fontaine-Uterte remains integrated into the attraction of Saint Quentin, in a territory marked by its rural past and the stigmas of the two world wars.

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