Church of the Holy Trinity, La Chapelle-en-Serval

The Church of the Trinity is a Catholic parish church located in La Chapelle-en-Serval, France. The parish was erected in 1246, and replaced that of the vanished village of Géni, which was joined to the neighboring parish of Orry-la-Ville. The present church was rebuilt after the Hundred Years' War and is built in the flamboyant Gothic style. At first, during the first half of the 16th century, only the last bay and the apse were built, and the nave of the previous church or chapel continued to be used. The rest of the church was built some time later. Its architecture is of a great banality, and somewhat repetitive; there is no element that testifies to a certain stylistic research. In this respect, the church of the Trinity is representative of the rural churches of the late Gothic period, even if the aesthetic requirements are generally higher in the region. The bell tower is more recent, and belongs to the end of the Renaissance; it is a replica of the southern tower of the Saint-Pierre church of Senlis. The vaults of the first bays of the nave were probably added afterwards, in 1685. The portal was redone in 1818, and lacks any decoration. In spite of its low interest, the church is registered as a historical monument by decree of August 22, 1949. Today it is affiliated to the parish of the Holy Spirit of Serval, whose main place of worship is the church of Saint-Martin de Plailly. Sunday masses are celebrated in the church of the Trinity about once a month, alternating on Saturday evening or Sunday morning.