Église Saint-Gorgon de Varangéville

Varangéville

Varangéville is where the relic arrived and where the pilgrimage began. The place had been, since 770, a priory of the Metz abbey of Gorze, with a church dedicated to Saint Gorgonius, consecrated by Odo, bishop of Toul, in 1057 according to local tradition. At the end of the 11th century a knight of the place, Aubert de Varangéville, brought back from the basilica of Bari a finger-bone from the right hand of Saint Nicholas; the sources hesitate between 1087, 1093 and 1098. The crowd the relic drew could not fit into a priory: Gorze had a pilgrimage church raised on the other bank of the Meurthe, at the port, and it is from that market town that the basilica would grow. Varangéville nevertheless remained the parish: the inhabitants of Port came there for baptisms and burials until 1803, and Joinville, carrying the queen's silver ship in 1254, brought it to what he calls "Saint-Nicolas de Varangéville". The present church, a hall church with three vessels and eight bays, with star vaulting, was rebuilt in the first third of the 16th century, when the great church opposite was being completed; the keystone of the choir bears the arms of its commendatory prior Jean de Lorraine, son of René II.

Wikipédia — Église Saint-Gorgon de Varangéville ↗

Getting there : 13 km south-east of Nancy by the D 400, then the bridge over the Meurthe from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port; the church dominates the town, and parking is easy on the square. The interior opens for services; enquire at the town hall about other days. The Romanesque porch tower of the old church, included in a private property, cannot be visited.

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

Ambient sound