St. John the Baptist Church, Chaumont-en-Vexin

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church is a Catholic parish church located in Chaumont-en-Vexin, France. It is built a little away from the center of the town on the eastern side of the old castle hill, and can only be reached by stairs. The church of Saint Jean-Baptiste represents the main religious building of the French Vexin which dates entirely from the XVIth century. It is a very homogeneous building of flamboyant Gothic style, built in a single campaign between approximately 1530 and 1554. Only the keystones, some of the decoration of the north cross portal, and the bell tower display the Renaissance style; however, the bell tower remained unfinished, and the second bell tower and the first bay of the nave with the west façade were never built. On the outside, the portal of the north cross with its elegant flamboyant decoration is the most remarkable element. The interior is vast and bright, and the modenature is complex and original. Despite the advanced period, many references to 15th and 14th century architecture can still be identified, including the clearly overhanging transept, the shape of the pillars derived from the gothic fasciculated pillars, and especially the foliage capitals. But contrary to the custom at the height of the Gothic period, there is no triforium, and the elevations of the central nave have only two levels. As for the ambulatory plan without radiating chapels, it is specific to a small number of churches in the Île-de-France region, and derives from the first cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Otherwise, it is from the collegiate church of Gisors that the inspiration comes, and the master builder who provided the plan was a close collaborator of Jean Grappin. Among the furnishings, the 16th century stalls are especially noteworthy; they also come from the collegiate church of Gisors. Some of the original stained glass windows remain and are also interesting; they are fragments spread over several windows and six windows in the transept and the ambulatory, most of which still contain Renaissance elements. The church was classified as a historical monument by decree of November 15, 1913, and has not required any major restoration since then. It is today at the center of the parish of Saint François d'Assise du Vexin, which extends over forty-eight communes, and Sunday masses are celebrated there every Sunday at 11 am.