Visite guidée de la Basilique de Mézières, ses vitraux et son trésor d'art sacré

A visit from treasure to treasure Classified as a "Monument Historique" on October 18, 1901, this late flamboyant Gothic church was built from 1499 onwards. It took almost 120 years to build, using the foundations and elements of an early Romanesque church. It was renamed Notre-Dame de l'Espérance in the early 19th century, when the statue of the Black Madonna was added. Honored since the 10th century, the Vierge Noire de Mézières generated an annual pilgrimage that lasted until 1962! The current stone statue replaces the wooden one burnt down in 1643.Erected as a Basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1946, the Church, which became a Cathedral for a day, saw the marriage of French King Charles IX to Elisabeth of Austria in 1570.Repeatedly ravaged and bombed during the conflicts of history, Notre Dame is always rebuilt like a phoenix rising from the ashes.After the Second World War, a call went out for new stained-glass windows. Painter and sculptor René Dürrbach, a friend and collaborator of Picasso, who had just completed the stained glass windows in the church at Epenoy in the Doubs region of France, received the order. between 1954 and 1979, Dürrbach created a 1,000 m2 surface, 62 stained-glass windows and 6 oculi, reflecting the non-figurative art of the second half of the 20th century. Finally, a final jewel is housed in the Basilica's completely renovated former sacristy: the Trésor d'art sacré des Ardennes. Inaugurated in July 2018, the Treasure presents ancient statues, precious reliquaries, gold-plated chalices, embroidered chasubles and paintings in a modern museographic space. Find out more about Mézières, la Médiévale!