Eglise Saint-Nicolas

We're in the "belfry district". At the very beginning of the 13th c. Count Thibaut IV had a new rampart built to protect the "body of the cork".

The ancient Gallo-Roman Via Agrippa crossed the wall and moat through the Porte de Sainte-Savine, adjacent to the town's watchtower, known as the belfry.
Nearby, at the end of the "Marché-au-blé" (now Place Jean Jaurès) and close to the ramparts, stood a 12th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Nicolas, bishop of Myre (Turkey) in the 4th century. who was already very popular in our region in the Middle Ages.
Following the destruction of the district in the great fire of 1524, wealthy merchants commissioned Trojan architect Jean Faulchot to build a new Saint-Nicolas church on the ruins of the chapel. Work quickly began on the two extremities: the choir and the façade. The latter was attached to the rampart, so the church was entered through the side door.
The two construction sites were not joined until 1590, but the whole is homogeneous.
The lower part of the church is Gothic and may date back to the former chapel, while the upper part is more Renaissance in style. The south portal features a superb Christ on the Cross, surrounded by statues of David and Isaiah. The present entrance was added in front of the façade in 1840, after the destruction of the ramparts and the opening of Boulevard Victor Hugo. It is in the neo-Renaissance style and supports the Calvaire chapel. Previously, the entrance was via the current gallery and the monumental staircase in the nave.
Admire the church's interior decoration, in particular its stained glass windows and statuary: in the gallery, Christ bending under the weight of the cross, by an anonymous 16th-century Trojan artist, is a true masterpiece. In the first left-hand bay opens the Sepulchre, a reproduction of Christ's tomb brought back from Jerusalem by a Crusader.

Open only Tuesday to Friday, 4pm to 7pm.

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