St. Martin's Church, Plailly

The church of Saint-Martin is a Catholic parish church located in Plailly, France. Built during the 1160s and 1170s in the early Gothic style, it received a new pre-Rayonian choir at the beginning of the following century, whose three bays of the chevet form a transverse vessel of equal height. In both cases, the church of Saint-Martin was at the forefront of the innovative architectural movements of its time, and as certain similarities indicate, drew its influences from the building sites of the cathedrals of Notre-Dame de Senlis and Notre-Dame de Paris. The nave, designed to be covered by a simple framework, is characterized by large pointed arches falling on the remarkable capitals of large isolated cylindrical pillars. In the choir, three similar pillars support the upper order in the form of bundles of columns. This superimposition is an original and elegant solution characterizing the choir of Plailly, as well as the vast and well-lit space of the transverse vessel, contrasting with the constant darkness of the nave. The fine octagonal stone spire from the second half of the 13th century adds a note of refinement to the sobriety of the church's exterior. As a remarkable example of early Gothic architecture, it was listed as a historical monument in 1862. It is now the center of the parish of Saint-Esprit du Serval.