In the nearby park shaded by large trees, the ruins of fortifications recall the memory of the six towers of the old castle built in the 11th century…….
In the nearby park shaded by large trees, the ruins of fortifications recall the memory of the six towers of the old castle built in the 11th century by Geoffroy IV, Count of Perche, in order to control this border region near the Chartres region, Normandy, and the possessions of the Lords of Bellême and Alençon which extended as far as Sées.
During the Hundred Years' War, Charles, Count of Evreux and King of Navarre, allied with the English against the King of France, seized the fortress in 1364. It was then besieged and retaken on behalf of King Charles V by his younger brother Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, using catapults that threw large stones to collapse sections of the walls. But after the English victory at Verneuil in 1424, they rushed to destroy Marchainville, setting fire to the town and the castle.
The church, too, has experienced some vicissitudes. It occupies the site of a very old small monastery, given to the abbey of Saint-Evrouit by a certain Fulchierus of Chartres, who was chaplain to Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem and author of an account of the first crusade. The monks built the priory church in the 11th century, of which the thick right wall with its flat buttresses, the cornice in grison stone, and the support points of the descending roof, which housed a small adjoining cloister, still remain. The church was enlarged (end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century) along its entire length by a side nave resting on stone arches, whose voussures connect without capitals to octagonal pillars.
On the unfortunate initiative of Abbot Fleuriel, this side nave was knocked down in 1723, and the roof of the church lowered. It was not until 1810 that a new priest, Abbot Dubois, had the four arcades of the current chapel of the Virgin reopened. The three other old arcades, still visible, remain blocked in the left wall of the nave.
Unfortunately, on March 15, 1820, the shock of an earthquake caused the old square bell tower of the priory, which was located above the entrance to the choir, to collapse, which caused considerable damage. Thanks to the generosity of the inhabitants and the personal contribution of the Bishop of Séez, the church was repaired and a new bell tower was erected next to the entrance porch in 1824.
On the classical-style altarpiece, a painting, dated 1949, of the Holy Virgin surrounded by angels replaces the painting of the Assumption hanging in the nave. The 18th century tabernacle presents a pretty wooden statuette of the resurrected Christ, with on each side those of a holy bishop with a kneeling donor, and perhaps a Father of the Church.
Two pretty statues of Saint Lawrence and Saint Peter adorn the altarpiece of the chapel of the Virgin, where in the center appears the traditional image of Our Lady of Victories presenting Jesus as a child on a starry sphere that symbolizes the world. Above, appear God the Father, his arms outstretched, and the Holy Spirit.
Finally, let us not forget the curious statue of Saint Louis with his scepter, presenting the crown of thorns and the three nails of the crucifixion, nor the ancient painting, in the nave, of Saint Eloi as bishop, with his anvil of patron saint of blacksmiths.
Translated by Google •
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