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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Martin d'Épernay portal, classified as a historical monument since 1840, is a rare example of 16th century religious architecture still visible in the city. Built in 1540 as the side entrance to the Notre-Dame Abbey Church, it owes its name to the equestrian statue of Saint Martin who once decorated its front niche. This portal, probably carved by Pierre Jacques, illustrates the artistic know-how of the Champagne Renaissance, a period marked by a revival of forms and motifs inspired by antiquity.

The history of the portal is closely linked to the revolutionary upheavals and urban transformations of Epernay. In 1790, the suppression of religious congregations by the Constituent Assembly resulted in the closure of Notre Dame Abbey, whose church was converted into a warehouse in 1792. After the collapse of the vaults of the choir in 1824, the portal, already deprived of its statue, was moved twice: first integrated into the bell tower of the new parish church in 1829, then installed in 1909 on the Place Hugues-Plomb, after the definitive demolition of the abbey. This monument, now isolated, is one of the last material testimonies of the former Saint Martin Abbey.

The successive movements of the portal reflect the urban and religious changes of Epernay in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1913, the town hall left the old convent buildings, demolished the following year, while the windows saved from the abbey church were resettled in the new church of Notre-Dame, Thiers Square. Ranked among the first historical monuments of France, the Saint-Martin portal embodies both the heritage richness of Champagne and the fractures of its history, between medieval heritage, industrial revolution and urban modernization.

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