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Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Germain church of Neuvy-Grandchamp, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is a composite building marking two distinct epochs. From the medieval church of the 14th and 15th centuries, it remains today only the choir and the span under bell tower, characterized by Gothic elements like a vaulted arch and a dogive cross. These vestiges, including a flamboyant axial doublet and a broken credence in hangar, bear witness to the religious architecture of the late Middle Ages. The ancient murals of the choir, now extinct, were covered with badigeon in the 19th century.

The present nave, rebuilt and enlarged between 1870 and 1876, adopted a neo-Gothic style with five spans flanked by bottoms. The arches in broken hangers, supported by cylindrical columns, and the arches of ridges recall medieval cannons while integrating modern techniques. The bell tower, destroyed by a hurricane in 1827, was replaced in 1829 by a square structure surmounted by a bulb, restored after the damage of a storm in 1982. This mix of styles reflects the successive adaptations of the building to liturgical needs and climatic hazards.

The interior furniture includes a baroque wooden master altar, carved in Autun in 1776 and offered by the Lord of Neuvy, as well as a Christ in a classical cross above the arch of the choir. The fifteen stained glass windows, laid in the 1920s, combine sacred art with local memory, such as the one dedicated to Pierre Bernigaud, child of Neuvy's death for France, or the one celebrating Sister Providence, a religious honoured by the French Academy in 1904. These elements underline the social and memorial role of the church over the centuries.

Today, the church is located in the parish of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, based in Gueugnon, and remains an active Catholic place of worship. Its history reflects the architectural and community transformations of Neuvy-Grandchamp, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era, while maintaining tangible traces of each period.

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