Church of Our Lady, Jouy-le-Moutier

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Leu is a Catholic parish church located in Jouy-le-Moutier, France. Long known as the church of Notre-Dame de la Visitation, the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin has as its second patron saint Saint Loup de Sens. Its oldest and most notable exterior is the two-story Romanesque bell tower topped by an octagonal stone spire. It should not be much older than 1130. Rising above the transept crossing, its base separates the nave from the choir, and in order to better connect them, it was raised in the 16th century. Most of the Romanesque capitals were preserved during this bold operation. If the base of the bell tower is now as high as the nave, it is nevertheless narrow, which motivated the moving of the altar to the end of the nave. The beautiful choir of the 1220s / 1240s, influenced by the architecture of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, whose chapter appointed the priest, is thus not used. The nave is of a less refined flamboyant gothic style, especially around the high windows, but it is undoubtedly of great originality both for the large capitals of the arcades, and for the open galleries with open balustrades that surround it to the north, west and south. The church was classified as a historical monument by decree of December 11, 1912. Its restoration began in the 1870s, and if it was not successful on all levels, it respected all the capitals inside. The church of Jouy-le-Moutier is the oldest and largest of the four churches in the Hautil parish group, but today it lives in the shadow of the church of Sainte-Claire in Vauréal, inaugurated in 1995 and financed by donations.