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Origin and history

The Protestant Temple of Bolbec is a religious building built on Rue Pasteur in Bolbec, Normandy. Inaugurated on 25 December 1797, it symbolizes the freedom of worship found after the French Revolution. Its funding comes from the legacy of Jean Guillard, a Protestant refugee born in Bolbec, who died in London in 1782, and who allocated £6,000 to its construction. The plans were drawn up in 1792 by architect Fouache, and the temple houses tables of the Law, emblematic elements of Protestantism.

The revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 prohibited Protestants from worshiping in France. Only with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789 was freedom of conscience restored, allowing the building of this temple. In 1837, a stand for musicians was added above the entrance, and in 1852, an organ built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was installed there.

The monumental entrance, erected in 1877, consists of four ionic columns surmounted by a triangular pediment, a classical style reflecting the civil architecture of the Third Republic. The tympanum presents a Bible opened on a cross, surrounded by Eucharistic symbols (wheatger, vine stock). The temple was listed for historical monuments on October 16, 1986 and today belongs to the united Protestant parish of the Alabaster Coast / Caux.

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