Église Sainte-Maxence de Pont-Sainte-Maxence

Pont-Sainte-Maxence

The town owes its name to a saint whose very existence the Church itself no longer guarantees, which makes it a textbook case of a founding legend. According to the tradition handed down by the hagiographers, Maxence was a young noblewoman from Ireland or Scotland, daughter of King Malconus and converted by Saint Patrick, who fled with two companions to escape a forced marriage to a pagan prince named Avicin. Having taken refuge on the banks of the Oise, in the Beauvaisis, she was caught up by her pursuer, who cut her throat; the story has it that her body rose again, that she took her head in her hands and carried it from the place of her martyrdom to the place of her burial, where a church was built. Charlemagne is said to have come there to pray and to have endowed it richly. The present building is a complete reconstruction from after the Hundred Years' War, a remarkable example of Flamboyant Gothic with three vessels of almost equal height, listed as a monument historique and rich in registered furnishings, including a Renaissance wooden pietà. Saint Maxence was removed from the general Roman calendar for want of sufficient historical evidence, but she is still honoured locally on the third Sunday of November — the legend has outlived its own demotion.

Église Sainte-Maxence de Pont-Sainte-Maxence (Wikipédia) ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Pont-Sainte-Maxence, 10 km north-east of Creil, near the crossing of the Oise that gave the town its name. The coordinates are those of the town centre; the church stands in the old heart of the town, a few hundred metres from the bridge. Open according to parish hours.

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

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