Saint-Quentin Church, Valmondois

The Saint-Quentin church is a Catholic parish church located in Valmondois, Val-d'Oise, France. It was built from the early thirteenth century in the Gothic style, starting with the choir, which initially consisted of three vessels of different widths, but identical height. This part is vaulted on ribbed vaults, which fall on columns with capitals of a varied sculpted decoration, representative of the architecture of Ile-de-France during the second half of the reign of Philip Augustus. The nave was supposed to be built according to the same principles, but the parishioners did not manage to gather the necessary means, and a provisional nave without vaulting was built, which is surprisingly short. Its western part has probably disappeared. This simple nave was never replaced and is one of the last examples of the most modest type of Gothic nave in the region. At the beginning of the 16th century, when Charles de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was lord of Valmondois, the north side of the choir was replaced by a rather low chapel of two bays. The church of Valmondois is famous for its hanging keystones of the liernes and tiercerons vaults. While the aisles belong to the flamboyant gothic style, the sculpture of the keystones is influenced by the Italian Renaissance. They present statuettes of Apostles and saints, as well as cherubs, escutcheons and arrangements of foliage. The choir and the north aisle were registered as historical monuments by decree of January 31, 1935.