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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Quentin de Valmondois, located in Val-d This gift, linked to the Gregorian reform, includes tithes, cemetery and land to found a priory. The present church, rebuilt at the beginning of the 13th century, begins with a primitive Gothic choir with three ships, vaulted with dogives and decorated with carved capitals typical of the reign of Philippe Auguste. The nave, planned to be so ambitious, was finally provisionally built around 1230-1240, shorter and unceiling, for lack of funding.

In the 16th century, under Charles de Villiers of L-Isle-Adam, the northern collateral of the choir was replaced by a low two-span seigneurial chapel, famous for its ivy and third-line vaults, as well as its keys to hanging vaults carved with statuettes and Renaissance motifs. These elements, influenced by Italian art, contrast with the flamboyant Gothic style of arcades. The late consecration of the church in 1478, long after its construction, suggests possible disturbances during the Hundred Years' War, although no trace of reconstruction is attested.

The church, partially classified as a historical monument in 1935 (church and north side), illustrates medieval and reborn architectural evolution. His furniture includes classified paintings, such as Christ at Martha and Mary (17th century, attributed to Agostino Scilla), and liturgical elements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today integrated into the diocese of Pontoise, it remains an active place of worship in the pastoral sector of Sauseron, testifying to the local religious vitality.

Externally, the building is distinguished by its disproportion between the short nave and the choir, as well as by its frame bell tower. The buttresses and the cornice of cubic modillons recall its primitive Gothic origin. The seigneurial chapel, seemingly more sober, hides a decorative richness unique in the department, mixing religious symbols and seigneurial emblems, such as the coat of arms of Charles de Villiers.

The church's priorial origins, shared between parish priests and monks until the suppression of the priory in the 18th century, explain its dual parish and conventual status. The tithes, divided between the two institutions, partially financed its construction. After the Revolution, the attachment to the diocese of Versailles and Pontoise marked its adaptation to administrative reforms, while preserving its central role in the community life of Valmondois.

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