Church of Our Lady

The church of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Rieul is a Catholic parish church located in Rully, in the French department of Oise and the Hauts-de-France region. It is one of the very few churches placed under the patronage of Saint Rieul, Evangelizer of the country of France and first bishop of Senlis, who died at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century: the parish has probably existed since that time, and can be considered as one of the oldest in the region. No part of the church, however, predates the 12th century. At the beginning of the 12th century, the previous church received a new bell tower and probably a new choir, and the second floor of the bell tower remains to this day. Shortly before the middle of the 12th century, the bell tower was provided with a second floor, which surprises by the richness of its ornamentation, and the sculpture of ancient inspiration of its capitals and its frieze, of a type more proper to the south of France. The nave, not vaulted but quite spacious, and its western portal date from the same period. They are still in the Romanesque style. The rest of the church is Gothic. Around 1240, in fact, it was desired to give the church a more representative transept and choir, while wanting to keep the bell tower for sentimental reasons. The Gothic transformation of the church that followed included a bold underpinning of the base of the bell tower, which had lost its Romanesque character on the inside. In order to create a harmonious transition between the nave and the new transept, the master builder had the idea of adding chapels at the corner of the transept and the nave, which communicate with the latter through oblique arches. They prevent the eye from bumping into the walls at the end of the nave, as is regularly the case in the Romanesque churches of the region, and create a visual continuity between the nave and the transept. This original arrangement explains the archaeological importance of the church, as well as the architectural quality of the eastern parts with their beautiful radiating windows, and the particular character of the upper floor of the bell tower. As a result, the church was listed as a historical monument in 1862. It is in the center of the community of Rully - Raray - Montépilloy of the parish of Saint-Rieul de Senlis, and hosts Eucharistic celebrations on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, at 10:30 am.