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Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Gennevilliers, located in Place Jean-Grandel, is a place of Catholic worship dependent on the diocese of Nanterre. Its history dates back to the 12th century, where a primitive chapel, weakened by the infiltrations of the Seine, occupied the site. A church was attested in 1302, then in the 15th century, before being replaced by the present building, whose construction began in 1650 under the impulse of the Prince of Conti, who laid the first stone on 11 June this year. The neo-classical façade and the door were redesigned in 1830.

The church, consecrated in 1665 by Guillaume Le Boux, bishop of Dax, preserves 16th century tombstones. Its architecture combines a three-span nave, dogive vaulted bottoms, and a 16th-century bell tower covered with a slate. The bas-relief of the facade, by Eugene-André Oudiné and Hardouin (mid-19th century), represents Christ surrounded by disciples. Two sacristies, added in the 19th and 19th centuries (1887), complete the pentagonal choir.

Inside, two glass windows of 1911, signed by Louis Trézel, adorn the building, while a painting by Jean-Pierre Mignard, a Pietà from the Château de Saint-Cloud before his fire, dominates the choir. The church, served by the tramway T1 (The Village Station), remains an active place of worship, with a Sunday Mass celebrated at 11 a.m. Its artistic and architectural heritage reflects the stylistic and religious evolutions of the region since the Middle Ages.

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