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Origin and history

The Saint-Nicolas church of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, located in Val-de-Marne, is a Catholic religious building dedicated to Saint Nicolas. It has been closely linked to local history since the 11th century, with a chapel attested as early as 1137 during the Miracle of Rain, a significant event where a procession of the relics of Saint Maur would have caused a saving storm after a devastating drought in Western Europe. This miracle, recorded in manuscripts of the abbey, enshrines the chapel in the religious and community tradition.

In the heart of the church is devotion to Our Lady of Miracles, a Marian pilgrimage that was almost nine centuries old until 1968 and then resumed in 1988. According to the tradition reported by Regnault de Citry in 1328, a statue of the Virgin, reputed acheiropoiete (not made of man's hand), appeared miraculously in the workshop of a sculptor on 10 July 1068, commissioned by Guillaume de Corbeil. This statue, the object of veneration, strengthened the spiritual radiance of the site.

The architecture of the church reflects distinct construction phases: the bell tower dates from the first half of the twelfth century, while the choir was erected in the middle of the thirteenth century. Subsequent changes, such as the enlargement of 1827 (annexation of the southern porch) or the demolition of the sacristy in 1848, adapted the building to liturgical and urban needs. Classified as a Historic Monument since February 3, 1947, the church remains an active heritage symbol, as evidenced by the broadcast of a live Mass on France 2 in 2018.

Today, the Church of Saint Nicholas forms the parish of the Visitation, under the authority of the Diocese of Créteil, with the Church of Saint Mary in the Fleurs. Its location, at the corner of the streets of Paris and the Four, and its history combining miracles, pilgrimages and architectural transformations make it an emblematic place of the Franciscan religious heritage.

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