Church of Our Lady, Pontoise

Notre-Dame Church is a Catholic parish church located in Pontoise, France. Its importance comes essentially from the tomb of Saint Gauthier, and a statue of the Virgin and Child from the second half of the 13th century, reputed to be miraculous, which it houses. The present church also prolongs the memory of a splendid and vast basilica of radiant Gothic style, which by its dimensions and the quality of its architecture strongly impressed the contemporaries, and which was one of the largest churches of France. Very few vestiges remain, including the Virgin, some fragments of funeral slabs, and tapestries that are no longer in the church. Already partially destroyed in 1437 and then rebuilt, the basilica had just been enlarged when it perished during the siege of Pontoise in July 1589. This explains why the means to build a larger church after the catastrophe were lacking: one had to be content with building a provisional church, whose design responds above all to the imperatives of a quick and economical implementation, with wooden vaults. Its simplified Renaissance style lacks grace, but the architect Nicolas Le Mercier nevertheless left an interesting creation not devoid of aesthetic qualities given the constraints. Also the church has crossed the centuries contrary to the initial idea, and benefited from some embellishments. The church of Notre-Dame was registered as a historical monument by decree of June 16, 1926 and was externally restored between 2000 and 2010.