Collégiale Notre-Dame de Poissy

Poissy

On the banks of the Seine, the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Poissy is inseparable from the birth of a king who became a saint. Founded around 1016 by Robert the Pious and consecrated in 1093 under Philip I, it saw its Romanesque choir and then its Gothic parts rise over the course of the 12th century. It was here that, a few days after his birth at Poissy in 1214, the future Louis IX was baptised: all his life, the king would sign some of his acts "Louis de Poissy", out of loyalty to this founding place, and the original baptismal font, protected ever since by a grille designed by Viollet-le-Duc, can still be seen in the chapel of Saint-Louis. Run throughout the Ancien Régime by a chapter of canons, the collegiate church was closed at the Revolution and reopened for worship in 1802, but by then it was in such a ruinous state that it narrowly escaped demolition. Its rescue, between 1844 and 1869, was the work of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who carried out here one of his very first major restorations, before that of Notre-Dame de Paris, leaving his personal mark on it as much as that of the Middle Ages. Even today, in the industrial town that Poissy has become, this stone vessel of the 11th century still recalls that here was born, one day in 1214, the man who would become the Most Christian King of the Capetian golden legend.

Getting there : Collegiate church open to the public, free admission, guided tours available through the Poissy tourist office

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

Ambient sound