Stroll through the oldest occupied district of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés and still alive. You will discover its church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, dedicated to Saint-Nicolas, under restoration; some beautiful houses of the seventeenth century inherited from the castle and the court of the princes of Condé, but also various traces of the activities of the old town such as its farm, its modest shops, its town hall, its factory, its boarding school, the way of the great annual procession of Saint-Maur, and the locations of famous films.
The oldest intact building in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, this church is dedicated to Saint-Nicolas, the patron saint of schoolchildren, but also of sailors, many of whom landed at the abbey’s port on the Marne. The building has been modified several times, which explains the different styles of construction. If the bell tower is Romanesque, typical of the twelfth century, the choir (of the thirteenth century) is Gothic, with an imposing glass roof nearly 8 meters high! The church has been listed as a historical monument since 1947.
The major renovation work undertaken by the city, in partnership with the Heritage Foundation and the Île-de-France Region, was completed at the end of 2022: replacement of the choir and bell tower cover, recovery of the frame, renovation, replacement of many damaged stones (including columns and capitals), cleaning of some stained glass windows, etc. Living heritage, discover the reconstruction of the Romanesque vault following the destruction of the plaster vault of the Interwar period. Admire the magnificent rooster that now watches over the building.