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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Ouen-le-Vieux, located in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, is built near the old villa Clippiacum of King Dagobert, considered the merovingian cradle of the city. It occupies a promontory of ten meters, where still some vine plants remain. This site is linked to the death of Saint Ouen in 686, and a chapel is attested from 832 by Hilduin de Saint-Denis, sheltering his relics and becoming a place of pilgrimage.

In the 12th century, a Romanesque chapel replaced the previous building. His capitals carved into acanthe leaf and his choir date back to the years 1140-1160. The vault key, with the arms of the House of Condé, was added in the 16th century, while the façade was completed under Henry IV. The portal, destroyed in 1567 during the Wars of Religion, was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. The church was listed as a historic monument in 1933.

A parish cemetery, mentioned in 1293, adjoins the church until 1849, when its bones were transferred to the Place de la Mairie, then in 1867 to the place called La Motte. The 18th century organ, vandalized in 2006, and restorations carried out in 1976 by architects Brasilier, Thyrault and Plankaert mark its recent history.

The church, dedicated to Saint Ouen and served by the Sons of Charity, maintains a Sunday Mass at 11 o'clock. Its architecture thus combines medieval heritage, Renaissance modifications and modern restorations, reflecting almost a thousand years of religious and local history.

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