Collégiale Notre-Dame de Mantes-la-Jolie

Mantes-la-Jolie

Badly damaged in 1087 during the siege of Mantes by William the Conqueror, the original church was replaced from the mid-12th century (around 1140–1150) by an ambitious collegiate church, a manifesto of Capetian power in the face of the Norman dukes on this Vexin frontier. The work went through three campaigns: the south tower was begun around 1240, the north tower completed around 1266, then its upper storey rebuilt between 1492 and 1508. Beneath vaults rising to nearly 29 metres — a height worthy of the great cathedrals — the west rose window, whose oldest panels date from around 1210, depicts the Last Judgement and ranks among the oldest in France. Around 1313, Queen Marie de Brabant founded the chapel of Navarre, a double chapel formed between 1352 and 1364, adorned with 14th-century sculptures depicting female saints and donor queens. Served by a college of canons from 1223, the collegiate church was listed as a historic monument on the very first list of 1840, then restored over twenty-seven years (1846–1873) by the architect Alphonse Durand. The two 61-metre towers still keep watch over the Seine.

Getting there : Old town of Mantes-la-Jolie, near the banks of the Seine; reachable on foot from Mantes-la-Jolie station (Transilien from Paris Saint-Lazare)

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound