St. Denis Church, Remy

The Saint-Denis church is a Catholic parish church located in Remy, in the Oise department, in France. It is a large building of flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance style, which replaces an older building of the early thirteenth century, of which some elements remain, including the end walls of the former transept. Quite striking for the landscape is the bell tower-porch of the 16th century, 35 m high, whose main stylistic elements, networks of bays of the belfry floor, balustrade and spire, are developments of the years 1861 / 1873. There is, especially on the outside, a clear separation between the nave of the faithful and the liturgical choir. The gutter walls of the aisles, a bit rustic and low, are in strong contrast with the elegance and height of the eastern parts, and the refinement of its Renaissance decoration. Inside, the flamboyant style prevails, and the differences between nave and choir are less. They are mostly of the same height and width. However, the vaults of the nave and its south side only date from the 19th century, and are devoid of artistic interest. Only the north aisle retains its beautiful 16th century panelled ceiling. More impressive is the double transept, which forms a homogeneous whole with the apse and is quite unique in its kind because of the type of pillars with eight corrugations and as many ridges, and the Renaissance friezes as capitals. While drawing its sources from ancient architecture, they do not reproduce any of the classical orders. One can only deplore the lack of care given to certain elements of the modenature. Exceptional for a rural church, which has never been more than a simple parish church, the church of Saint-Denis also offers a rich and varied furniture, with notably a set of twenty-six stalls from the middle of the 16th century, and nine stained-glass windows by the abbot Deligny. The parish priest of Remy from 1863 to 1883, he improvised as a stained glass artist from his first ministry in Jonquières, and left a work on the fringe of convention, prefiguring Art Nouveau. The church of Saint-Denis was classified as a historical monument by order of February 5, 1920. Today it is affiliated with the parish of Saint-Joseph de la plaine d'Estrées, and hosts Eucharistic celebrations every other Sunday at 9:30 am.