Origin and history
The church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Viarmes, located in Val-d Only the flat bedside, a part of the north elevations of the nave and the base of the bell tower, a modest and initially un arched building, remain from that time. The Hundred Years War delayed the work, and it was only at the last third of the 15th century that the vaulting of the north side and the nave was completed in a flamboyant Gothic style. The renovations continued in the 16th century with the reconstruction of the south side, marked by vaults with liernes and thirdons and a decoration announcing the Renaissance.
In the 14th century, the north side was partially rebuilt, as evidenced by the radiant reamping windows, but its vaulting came in only a century later, after the end of the Hundred Years' War. The large southern arcades, dated from the second quarter of the 16th century, incorporate Renaissance motifs, such as dancing cherubs and garlands, reflecting the stylistic evolution of the era. The bell tower, damaged by a fire in the seventeenth century, was heavily restored between 1885 and 1887 by architect Arthur Lemoux, who added an original neo-Gothic crown, while Édouard Bérard, a pupil of Viollet-le-Duc, designed a new western facade in 1889, inspired by regional models but tinted with eclectic inventions.
The church, classified as a historical monument in 2004, retains remarkable furniture, including an 18th-century high altar and altarpiece from Royaumont Abbey, which was donated to the parish in 1791 after the Revolution. This altarpiece, installed in front of the triplet of the bedside which it obstructs, deprives the nave of natural light, accentuating its dark character. The stained glass windows, the chair and the organ date back to the redevelopment campaigns of the 1880s, financed by local patrons such as Mr. Champion-Mazille. The building, in the heart of a parish group comprising four communes, remains an active place of worship, despite a fire in January 2024 during the restoration of the bell tower structure.
The church plan, devoid of transept and walker, reveals a nave with four spans flanked by asymmetrical bottoms, the south being almost as wide as the central ship. The vaults, all of which are dogive, have varied profiles, armorial keys hammered at the Revolution, and flamboyant or reborn ass-de-lamps. Outside, the bedside preserves traces of the three construction campaigns: the primitive Gothic triplet of the 13th century, the radiant windows of the 14th century, and the mutilated decorations of the 16th century, while the foothills and bell tower bays illustrate the restorations of the 19th century.
The classified furniture includes, in addition to the altarpiece, five paintings and two engraved effigy funerary slabs. Among the paintings, that of the Holy Family, hung in the south side, and another representing the meal in Emmaus, adorn the tympanum of the neo-Gothic portal. Funeral slabs, now missing or illegible, recall the old memorial vocation of the building. The church, although late protected, thus embodies almost eight centuries of local history, between medieval heritage, modern transformations and contemporary parish life.
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