Église Sainte-Geniève, Gouvieux

The Sainte-Geneviève de Gouvieux church is a Catholic parish church located in Gouvieux, a commune of the Oise department. Behind its facade of classical style and its walls largely resumed in the eighteenth century, hides a building of primitive Gothic style eight times centenary. Inside, the successive alterations and repairs are only visible at the level of the high windows and in the last bays of the aisles; they are explained by the instability of the ground and the insufficiency of the foundations which caused structural disorders. The original ribbed vaults have long since disappeared and were replaced by false vaults in wood and plaster in 1861. The four eastern bays were built at the end of the 12th century and are influenced by the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris and the choir of Saint-Leu-d'Esserent. The first two bays date back to the 1220s and belong to the architectural trend initiated by the cathedrals of Soissons and Chartres. As a whole, the church of Sainte-Geneviève remains an interesting building which is quite representative of the religious architecture of Île-de-France at its time. It was registered as a historical monument by decree of April 12, 1988 and has been recently repaired and embellished. Gouvieux is still an independent parish uniting Coye-la-Forêt and Lamorlaye under the title of "parish of Thève-et-Nonette - parish of Sainte-Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus". Thus masses are celebrated in the Sainte-Geneviève church every Sunday, and several times during the week.