Church of Saint Barthélémy

The abbey was founded in the 7th century, and is one of the few buildings in the town that survive from this period. It has been rebuilt several times following various destructions (natural or not). Joan of Arc stayed there in 1430 and performed a "miracle" in this church: the story is told there.

This church, which dates from the 12th and 13th centuries, has a magnificent Romanesque bell tower. This bell tower is the only part of the church that remains from the first period of work in the 12th century. A campaign to restore the church, in order to give it back its clean and authentic appearance, took place from May 2011 to August 2013.

The Merovingian chapel built by Dagobert on the site of the present church was destroyed in 861. The church of Saint Saturnin was built and enlarged from the 11th to the 20th century. Classified as a historical monument in 1909, the 11th and 12th century bell tower has been restored several times. In 1794, in order to erase any vestige of religion, the horizontal arms of the cross which surmounted the bell-tower were sawn off: it is this strange metallic decoration that can be seen on the lawn in front of the church. With its 32.50m height, the bell tower would pass entirely under the nave of Notre-Dame de Paris! Beheaded by lightning in August 1942, its spire was only rebuilt identically after the war. The present porch was bought by Mrs Smith-Champion from the city of Paris and offered in 1914 after the church was enlarged. It probably comes from a Parisian convent. Flamboyant Gothic (late 14th century), it is decorated with a mosaic and surmounted by a Virgin and Child dating from 1914.