Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Viarmes

The Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church is a Catholic parish church located in Viarmes, France. It would succeed to a chapel dedicated to St. Peter, and was built from the late twelfth century in the early Gothic style. This first church, of which only the chevet, the north elevation of the nave and part of the bell tower remain, was quite modest and apparently not vaulted. A first remodeling took place in the 14th century, when the north aisle was rebuilt, as the filling of its windows still shows. However, the rib vaulting was always postponed, probably because of the Hundred Years' War, and it was not until the last third of the 15th century that the vaulting of the north aisle, and then of the nave, was completed. It is done in the flamboyant gothic style. In the second quarter of the following century, the south aisle was entirely rebuilt in a more flamboyant style, with lierne and tierceron vaults with hanging keys, windows with bellows and flyswatters, and a rich exterior decoration, unfortunately largely lost. The iconography of the capitals already announces the Renaissance. The first bay to the south is not concerned by this reconstruction, as it supports the 13th century bell tower. The latter was heavily restored between 1885 and 1887, and received a new crown and a new, rather original spire. A new neo-Gothic façade was placed in front of the nave and the north aisle in 1889. Thus, the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church is a composite building, of which each of the three vessels is nevertheless relatively homogeneous, and does not lack interesting details. The church was registered as a historical monument rather late, by order of March 29, 2004. It is at the center of a parish grouping of four communes, and hosts several masses per week.