Have you ever admired a church's forecourt or wandered through its interior, wondering what all the paintings, sculptures, stained-glass windows and hangings might represent: a saint, an apostle, an evangelist, a virtue?
Continue reading "Which saint should I worship?"The Bedeau or "church Swiss
When visiting the church in Vétheuil, you'll probably have noticed - on display in one of the south chapels - the uniform of the bedeau (or Swiss guard). This function, which has now disappeared from our churches (with the exception of a few religious buildings in Alsace, including Strasbourg Cathedral), deserves a little more attention.
Continue reading "The Bedeau or "Church Swiss"" (in French)The Confrérie de Saint-Vincent
Saint-Vincent is the patron saint of winegrowers and vineyards. He was celebrated in VÉTHEUIL by the Confrérie of the same name, which had its own chapel in the church and engaged in a number of rituals with all its members.
Continue reading "La Confrérie de Saint-Vincent" (The Brotherhood of Saint Vincent)Anne de LAVAL and Louis de SILLY: a beautiful love story
Their initials are intertwined in La Chapelle extérieure sud of the VÉTHEUIL church, which we know owes its construction to the generosity of the Seigneur de la Roche-Guyon and his wife Anne, but what do we know of their history and why did they finance the work?
Continue reading "Anne de LAVAL and Louis de SILLY: a beautiful love story "Saint CÔME and Saint DAMIEN: the twin brothers.
Their statues are in the 3rd chapel south of the nave.
Continue reading "Saint CÔME and Saint DAMIEN: the twin brothers."Restoration of the stained glass windows
After the war, all the church's stained glass windows were blown out. All except the two Renaissance windows in La Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, which had been removed - what a happy coincidence! - just before the hostilities. For years, the openings were blocked with boards, with two major drawbacks: the church was plunged into darkness, and it was no longer protected against humidity. This situation was a godsend for swallows and bats, who found shelter in the monument.
Continue reading " The restoration of stained glass windows "The war and the church of Vétheuil
From August 19 to 31, 1944, the American army launched an offensive against the German army on the area covering the current Vexin Regional Natural Park: these fights are named "Battle of the Vexin". This was the only battle where armored vehicles from both sides clashed.
Continue reading " The war and the church of Vétheuil "The frame reveals its secrets
Dendrochronological dating (from the Greek dendron, tree, and chronos, time) is a method of dating a building by studying the growth rings of the tree trunks used for the frame.
Continue reading " The frame reveals its secrets "Instructions for the maintenance of churches: the contribution of VIOLLET-LE-DUC
" Instructions for the conservation, maintenance and restoration of diocesan buildings, and particularly cathedrals".
This is the title of the publication that was distributed in 1848 to the architects of diocesan buildings.
Continue reading "Instructions for the maintenance of churches: the contribution of VIOLLET-LE-DUC "The Merovingian necropolis
Since the 19th century, several fortuitous discoveries around the Notre-Dame church and inside it have revealed the existence of a Merovingian necropolis (*).
Continue reading "The Merovingian Necropolis