The Notre-Dame church in Rochefort was designed by the architect Louis-Auguste Boileau (1812-1896), the same one who drew the plans for the Saint-Eugène church in Paris, completed around 1855 and which is the first church built in iron and cast iron in France. But, for Notre-Dame, Boileau returned to a more traditional conception by privileging the stone. Despite the choice of this material, he wanted to ensure, as with metal, a certain lightness to the building; and thus benefit from large spaces for the windows. As a result, the church looks somewhat fragile. The thin and slender columns are 70cm square and rise to 7.50m. We understand that, at the time, the Public Works Commission expressed some fears ... The building was however completed, according to plans, in 1860. The limestone used turned out to be very hard. The church is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but its parish name will simply be “Notre-Dame”.
The neo-Gothic style made it possible to dress it with a very large glass roof, created by the GP Dagrand workshop in Bordeaux, in the 1890s. We will notice in particular the three very beautiful stained glass windows on the life of Mary (Birth, Assumption and Annunciation ) that illuminate the choir. Other stained glass windows are devoted to the Litanies of the Virgin.