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Origin and history

The church Saint-Denis de Rieux, located in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, is a religious building whose oldest parts date back to the first third of the 13th century, with significant additions to the 14th century. Originally, it was a 12th century Romanesque church, dependent on the abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly, then transformed under the impulse of local representation needs despite a modest population. The present Gothic choir, built in the 13th century, replaced a Romanesque choir deemed too small, while the transept preserves Romanesque elements, such as cradle vaults and historic capitals of an archaic bill.

In the 19th century, the monument suffered major damage due to a lack of maintenance. The low-sides of the nave, not vaulted and in ruins, were demolished in 1815, and the nave itself, condemned for insanity, was transformed into a town hall-school between 1867 and 1870. The bell tower, whose stone arrow was shot down in 1872, is covered with slate. Today only the Gothic choir, the partially Roman transept, and a 13th century chapel converted into a sacristy remain. The building is listed as historic monuments by order of 12 April 1926.

The interior reveals remarkable elements, such as the crib vaults of the cruises (XII century), the Romanesque capitals adorned with animal and geometric motifs, and the glazed Gothic stained glass windows (XIV century). The choir, disoriented from the nave, presents carved arch keys and polychrome frescoes in the sacristy, illustrating religious scenes. On the outside, the octagonal bell tower, truncated and devoid of its original upper floor, preserves traces of Romanesque bays with columns and historic capitals.

The furniture includes three classified objects: 12th century baptismal fonts decorated with masks and volutes, a 1390 funeral slab representing Villers and Alice de Rieux, and a 1550 bronze bell. The parish's history, linked to the diocese of Beauvais and the local seigneury, reflects the social and religious transformations of the region, from its attachment to the Clermont confessory in the 12th century until its partial decommissioning in the 19th century.

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