"Notre Dame de l'Assomption" Baroque Church

A fabulous Baroque setting. The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption was built between 1781 and 1787. Its balanced and vigorous silhouette is enhanced by a bulbous bell tower with an openwork lantern featuring twin windows resting on central columns. The last major fire, in 1973, required the intervention of the “Monuments Historiques” agency, which listed the building in its inventory in 1974 and funded the reconstruction of the bell tower and an initial phase of restoration. This bell tower was clad in “patinated” (hot-painted) steel to best mimic the rust of a tin sheet from 1816. The exterior, very understated, gives no hint of the superb Baroque decoration within. The Baroque style aims to astonish and dazzle, and it achieves this through the interplay of light and movement. The furnishings, paintings, and architecture are meant to evoke a powerful sense of beauty, while suggesting that this earthly beauty is but an illusion compared to the true beauty of the divine world. Gilding, gold leaf, carved wood, polychromatic decoration—nothing is too beautiful to affirm one’s faith. It borrows its azure from the sky, its crimson from blood, and its light from gold. The paintings, artwork, and statues in our church tell the entire history of Christianity and allow us, in just a few moments, to relive it—particularly the story of the Virgin Mary. https://drone-de-regard.fr/VR/FACIM/74_Cordon.html Group tours (maximum: 50 people) by reservation Group tours are available year-round by reservation.