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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Jambville, located in the Yvelines in Île-de-France, is a parish Catholic building whose origins date from the twelfth century. It is distinguished by its rectangular plan and its ten spans, typical of the small rural churches of the region. Although modified several times, it retains Romanesque elements such as the squared tympanum north of the nave and an octagonal bell tower topped by a Gothic stone arrow. Its architecture, less rigorous than that of the large contemporary buildings, presents numerous irregularities, characteristic of local constructions.

The foundation of the parish was attested in 1023, under the archdiocese of Rouen. The present church is the result of several construction campaigns: the base of the bell tower and the Romanesque tympanum date back to the 12th century, while the southern crusillon and the chapel of the Virgin, in Gothic style, were added around 1220-1230. The nave and its collateral, vaulted in flamboyant style, were built between 1510 and 1540. Despite significant deteriorations (loss of capital sculptures, replacement of windows), the church was partially restored in the 20th century, with a reconstruction of medieval polychromy.

Partially classified as historical monuments (clocher and tympanum in 1938, rest of the building registered in 1926), the church Notre-Dame illustrates the adaptation of major architectural styles (Roman, Gothic, flamboyant) in a rural context. Today affiliated with the parish of Limay-Vexin, it hosts Sunday Masses about every two months. Its furniture includes a 14th century Child Virgin and a classified medieval funeral slab.

Outside, the octagonal bell tower, restored in the 1980s, dominates a building with crept walls and partially Romanesque foothills. The northern tympanum, adorned with a rare losnge apparatus in the area, and the remains of the extinct northern crusillon testify to its complex history. The church, surrounded by the walls of the old cemetery, is located near the castle of Jambville, in a preserved setting of traffic flows.

Restoration campaigns (1980-1990s) have made it possible to restore visual coherence inside, in particular through the restitution of polychromies in the nave and the southern crusillon. However, work remains necessary, such as the renovation of the roof, estimated at €86 000 in 2016. The call for donations launched through the Heritage Foundation highlights the challenges of preserving this rural heritage.

The church is part of the landscape of the French Vexin, an area marked by churches with hybrid architectures, often redesigned over the centuries. Its history reflects the religious evolutions (passage from the Archdiocese of Rouen to the diocese of Versailles after the Revolution) and social, with a local priory and a tithe shared between the Abbé de Saint-Germer-de-Fly and the parish priest. Today, it remains an active place of worship and a testimony of medieval rural art in Île-de-France.

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