Church of Our Lady of the Assumption

Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Church is a Catholic parish church, located in Gaillon-sur-Montcient, Yvelines, France. It is probably still the primitive church of the parish, which was completed in the middle of the twelfth century, then enlarged in the early thirteenth century. This church is characterized by its compact silhouette, which is attributable to the Romanesque bell tower, which is largely drowned in the attic, but nevertheless dominated by an elegant stone spire, and also by the strong imbalance between the nave of the faithful and the eastern parts. Indeed, the nave has only two bays, and has never had aisles, but is nevertheless vaulted with ogives since its construction at the end of the Romanesque period. To the east, the transept, also Romanesque, whose crossing serves as the base of the bell tower, as well as the Gothic choir with its two side aisles, total nine bays divided into three vessels. The choir had two levels of elevation, and was twice as high as its side chapels, as can still be seen in its chevet with two superimposed triplets. But its two vaults were insufficiently counter-balanced, and did not resist to time. They were replaced in the first half of the 16th century by two flamboyant low vaults, which removed the second level of elevation from the liturgical space. Remarkable features of the interior of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption include the Romanesque ribbed vaults in the nave and the base of the bell tower, which show two different architectural approaches in the 1130s / 1140s, and the curious design of the Gothic choir, whose large arches begin with free pillars because the replacement of the Romanesque parts was planned. The church was classified as a historical monument by decree of January 27, 1934. Gaillon-sur-Montcient is now affiliated with the parish of Meulan, and Sunday masses are celebrated there every fifth Sunday at 9 am.