Abbatiale Saint-Nicolas, Saint-Leu-d'Esserent

The church of Saint-Nicolas is a church of Romanesque and Gothic styles located in the commune of Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, in the French department of Oise and the region Hauts-de-France. It is a former priory church, built between the middle of the twelfth century and the first quarter of the thirteenth century for the monks of the Cluniac priory of Saint-Leu founded in 1081 by Hugues de Dammartin. Replacing a former parish church, it will always assume the double mission of priory and parish church, one of the monks acting as parish priest. Because of its position on the edge of a plateau, it dominates the town and part of the Oise valley and its characteristic silhouette can be seen from afar. The western part of the church is still in Romanesque style; completed around 1150, it corresponds to a less ambitious reconstruction project that was finally abandoned. Only a few years later, the construction of the present Gothic church began with the apse around 1160 and continued with the choir and the nave, completed between 1190 and 1210 approximately. The building is striking for its imposing dimensions, close to those of a cathedral. The purity of its architecture is remarkable, as no major alterations were ever undertaken before the restorations following the early classification as a historical monument by list in 1840. The priory has been disused since the French Revolution and the remains of the conventual buildings are private property closed to the public. The church continues to fulfill its mission as a parish church. It is affiliated with the parish of Notre-Dame-des-deux-Rivières du Creillois-Sud.