The church of Saint-Nicolas de Tessancourt-sur-Aubette, located in the Yvelines (Île-de-France), finds its origins in the second half of the 12th century, with an un vaulted primitive nave, a bell tower base with arches in third-point announcing the gothic, and an apse with vaulted strips in cul-de-four. These novel elements, of remarkable sobriety, contrast with archaic capitals evoking those of Cormeilles-en-Vexin, while the third-point line of the doubles suggests a construction around 1140-1160. The bell tower, probably unfinished, lacks an expected octagonal floor, and its stone-tipped arrow could date from a later period.
In the middle of the 12th century, the nave was enlarged by the addition of lower sides, although the southern one remained partial, leaving a Romanesque window. The changes continued in the 16th century with the addition of a seigneurial chapel to the south, attributed to the Vion family, and a sacristy to the north. The chapel, vaulted with a re-used Romanesque profile, houses a baroque altarpiece and erased shields, while the facade and walls of the lower side are re-designed in modern times. Listed as a Historic Monument on March 25, 1930, the church retains remarkable furniture, including 16th century baptismal fonts and statues of St.Nicolas (18th century).
The building is part of local history as one of the 17 churches of the vow of Agnes de Montfort, promised in 1156 if her husband, Galéran IV de Meulan, returned healthy and without crusade. Although this legend mainly concerns bell towers, the nave of Tessancourt could be a vestige. Under the Old Regime, the parish depended on the Dean of Meulan and the Archdiocese of Rouen, with the Abbé of Bec-Hellouin as a collator. Today attached to the parish of Meulan, it illustrates the architectural and liturgical evolution of a rural Vexino church, from the beginnings of Gothic to Renaissance additions.
The interior, remained authentic, reveals a nave to the five ungrounded Romanesque arcades, water-leaf capitals evoking Hardricourt, and an apse among the last of the Vexin to keep its plan with cut strips. The base of the bell tower, vaulted with ridges, combines Romanesque influences (volutes, simple leaves) and nascent Gothic (doubles in third-point). Outside, the bell tower, lacking grace according to Bernard Duhamel, features ungrounded groined berries and a rustic octagonal arrow, possibly posterior. It is sober, illuminated by Romanesque windows and decorated with Renaissance altarpieces.
The classified furniture includes, in addition to the baptismal fonts, a funerary slab of François de Vion (1590) and his wife Pernelle de Joigny, as well as three statues of Saint Nicholas, including one of the eighteenth century painted wood, bearing witness to local devotion. The Baroque altarpiece of the seigneurial chapel, although unprotected, is distinguished by its exuberant sculpture and pastoral symbols. The church, still active (one Sunday in five), embodies the persistence of a medieval heritage in a village in the Regional Natural Park of the French Vexin, between Meulan and Condécourt.
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