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Saint Martin Church of Sorcy-Saint-Martin dans la Meuse

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine religieux
Eglise gothique
Meuse

Saint Martin Church of Sorcy-Saint-Martin

    4 Place Raymond Poincaré
    55190 Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Église Saint-Martin de Sorcy-Saint-Martin
Crédit photo : Havang(nl) - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
900
1000
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
IXe siècle
Early Benedictine Abbey
1499
Become a parish church
XVe siècle
Reconstruction after fire
1887
Replacement of stained glass windows
1995
Historical Monument
2006-2014
Restoration and reopening
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Church (Case AA 77): Order of 30 January 1995

Key figures

Saint Martin - Church Patron Represented in six 18th century bas-reliefs.
Antoine Bertin - Glass painter (1834–1904) Author of the 1887 stained glass windows.
Saint-Joire - Lorrain sculptor Author of the bas-reliefs of Saint Martin.
François-Louis Comon - Sculptor restorer Restore the bas-reliefs after the Revolution.
Claude de Saint-Vincent - Lord of Sorcy (XVIIe) Funeral monument classified in the church.

Origin and history

The Saint-Martin church of Sorcy-Saint-Martin, located in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region, is built in the 15th century on the presumed location of a 9th century Benedictine abbey, originally dedicated to Sainte-Marie-aux-Bois. Recent surveys have revealed a Merovingian necropolis under its foundations, attesting to an ancient religious occupation. The present building, rebuilt after a fire in the 15th century in an ogival style, became parish church in 1499 under the authority of the diocese of Toul, serving the villages of Sorcy and Saint Martin.

Ranked a Historical Monument in 1995, the church is distinguished by its flamboyant Gothic architecture: a four-span nave without transept, a five-sided bedside illuminated by flamboyant networked bays, and ivy and third-line vaults. The bell tower, probably the oldest part, is covered with an octagonal dome and a Romanesque screw staircase restored in 2008. The stained glass windows, destroyed during the Revolution, were replaced in 1887 by Antoine Bertin, forerunner of the Nancy school, while the interior furniture (chair, retables, bas-reliefs) bears witness to the artistic richness of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The church houses seigneurial burials, including those of the families of the castles Emmi and Sorcy-bas, discovered under the pavement. Its decoration includes six 18th-century bas-reliefs representing the life of St.Martin, a carved stone pulpit inspired by that of Saint-Roch in Paris, and classified baptismal fonts. After major work between 2006 and 2014, the building, closed in 1999 for damage, reopened to the public. The parish cemetery, formerly adjacent, was moved in 1833, leaving room for a Latin inscription on its portal: HODIE MIHI, CRAS TIBI.

Among the protected objects are a 15th-century Christ on the Cross, 17th-century stalls, a listed funeral monument of Lord Claude of Saint Vincent, and nine glass windows signed by Bertin. These elements, identified in the Palissy base, illustrate the heritage importance of the church, both a place of worship, a seigneurial necropolis and a witness to Lorrain art.

The history of the church reflects local upheavals: destruction by fire, diocesan confiscation, artistic and political revolutions. Its reopening in 2014, after decades of restoration, marks the preservation of a religious, architectural and memorial heritage, rooted in the history of the Meuse and the Great East.

External links