Église Saint-Laurent de Bermont

Bermont

At Bermont, a small village in the Territoire de Belfort close to the canton of Delle, the church of Saint-Laurent preserves in its choir the remains of a medieval building dating from the 14th century, around 1350, now reduced to serving as a sacristy. In the mid-19th century, the influx of worshippers from four neighbouring parishes made the old building too cramped: between 1865 and 1868, the Belfort architect Charles Genty carried out a large-scale reconstruction, raising a neo-Romanesque nave of five bays flanked by side chapels and a new choir, while keeping the surviving medieval elements. In the 1930s the church received a set of stained-glass windows that completed its interior decoration. On 13 June 1997 the building was registered as a monument historique (historic monument), a recognition that has since made it possible to undertake, with the support of the Sauvegarde de l'Art Français, restoration campaigns on its roof timbers and masonry. Unlike other sanctuaries in the region, no legend or miraculous tradition is attached to the site in the available sources: its interest lies above all in the superimposition, rare in this small rural département, of a 14th-century Gothic core and a neo-Romanesque nave of the Second Empire, a representative example of the rebuilding of country churches in 19th-century France.

Getting there : Village of Bermont (Territoire de Belfort), 12 km south-east of Belfort on the D13 towards Delle; surroundings freely accessible, interior open during services or on request at the town hall.

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

Ambient sound