Église Saint-Justin, Louvres

The Saint-Justin church is a Catholic church located in Louvres, France. It is a church combining two different periods and four different styles, and one can distinguish five distinct building campaigns, the last three of which are close together. Despite its complex history, the church of St. Justin is surprisingly homogeneous. Its plan is extremely simple and consists of a nave of five bays flanked by two aisles of equal length. There is neither transept nor bell tower. The three vessels have the same width and height along their entire length. The western façade is still Romanesque and dates back to the first quarter of the 12th century. In the middle of the following century, the Romanesque church was extended to the east and a new choir in Gothic style was added. It includes a central vessel of two bays accompanied by aisles, and remains to this day except for the capitals in the middle, and except for the vaults of the central vessel. The third campaign follows the destruction of the War of the Public Good in 1465. The eaves walls and the large arches of the nave were rebuilt, new vaults were built over the entire central nave in the new flamboyant gothic style, and a vast glass roof with a network of the same style was built into the chevet wall. Shortly afterwards, at the end of the 15th century, a side aisle was built to the south of the nave with a richly decorated side portal, and from the beginning of the 16th century, the north side aisle was rebuilt in turn. During the construction, a transition to the Renaissance style took place. The supports of the nave vaults were decorated with Renaissance capitals in the style of the day on the north side, and the vault of the third bay was richly ornamented with hanging keystones. Finally, the supports between the third and fourth bays of the central nave are consolidated and dressed in the Renaissance style. The Saint-Justin church was classified as a historical monument by decree of June 27, 1914. It is now at the center of a parish grouping that includes churches in several neighboring towns, including Roissy-en-France, Marly-la-Ville and Puiseux-en-France.