Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Montreuil

Montreuil

At the top of the hill of old Montreuil, Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul is one of the oldest sanctuaries in Seine-Saint-Denis: a royal ordinance attests to a building predating the 8th century, heir to a small Merovingian establishment. The present choir, raised at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, is a precious witness to Early Gothic, with its open triforium in which each bay frames three pointed arches; the central facade dates from the 14th century and the great nave from the 15th. A parish church linked to the royal castle of Vincennes from the 13th to the 16th century, it preserves the tradition of the baptism of the future Charles V and of Jeanne de Bourbon — which the sources place at differing dates — and in 1611 saw that of Martin Prévost, future settler of New France. Struck by lightning in 1808, the bell tower was restored in the 19th century. Listed as a historic monument in 1913 and closed in 1993 as unsafe, the church recovered its restored choir on 10 March 2007, at the end of a project costing around 1.9 million euros, before a further four-year restoration campaign completed in the 2020s, which gave Montreuil's "Gothic jewel" back its lustre.

Getting there : 2 rue de Romainville, at the junction of boulevard Henri-Barbusse and rue de l'Église, in upper Montreuil; free admission during parish opening hours

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

Ambient sound