ÉGLISE SAINT-LAURENT

The church of Mardigny dates back to the 12th century, but it was profoundly modified in the 19th century. The ensemble formed by the bell tower and the primitive narthex, in Romanesque style, was registered in the Inventory of Historic Monuments in July 1997. Built back from the village, it dominates it like many Romanesque churches in Lorraine. It was for a long time an annex of the parish church of Lorry. Until the French Revolution, baptisms, weddings and funerals could not be celebrated there. Originally, it is a church with a single nave, oriented -so with the choir to the east. It was through a door in the south wall, opening onto a narthex, that one entered the church. This narthex, or avant-nef, was separated from the nave by three arcades which are still visible. The central arch rests on two round pillars with cubic capitals and a claw base, whose use is known in Lorraine and Alsace for the beginning of the 12th century. The central square of the narthex, bounded by these two columns and vaulted with edges, supports the bell tower, the whole is strongly inclined towards the west despite a powerful buttress. This ensemble currently serves as a sacristy.