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Origin and history

The church Saint-Julien de Beynost, built in the early twentieth century, is the fruit of a bequest of 60,000 gold francs left by a parishioner, Catherine Meillard. This donation required the construction of a new church within a limited time. The project was validated by the municipal council on 26 May 1904, under the leadership of Mayor Claude André, and entrusted to the Lyon entrepreneur Alexandre Bourdeaux. The architect Barthélémy Delorme, who was already responsible for the transformation of the first church into a festive hall, drew up the plans. Thanks to the intervention of the deputy Alexandre Bérard, the construction cost nothing to the commune, which was solely responsible for the transfer of religious furniture.

The building was inaugurated on 28 June 1908 in the presence of Bishop Labeuche, Bishop of Belley. Oriented north-south, the church has a nave of four spans and an apse adorned with marouflé paintings. Its bell tower, covered in dardoise, contrasts with the roof of the nave tile. Among its remarkable elements are a stained glass window of Lucien Bégule (1887) representing the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, as well as a statue of the Virgin, erected on a five-metre column on the court. The church now depends on the parish group of Miribel, in the diocese of Belley-Ars.

This second church of Saint-Julien definitively replaced the first, dedicated to the same saint, thus marking a cultural continuity in the commune. Its private financing and sober architecture, typical of the rural religious buildings of the early twentieth century, reflect the local dynamics of the period, between modernization and preservation of traditions. Catherine Meillard's legacy illustrates the parishioners' commitment to the perpetuation of their religious heritage, while the involvement of local elected representatives, such as Claude André and Alexandre Bérard, underscores the political and social importance of such projects.

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