Exceptional opening of a rare building: the town hall-church of Maincourt

Name: Apertura excepcional de un edificio raro: la alcaldía-iglesia de Maincourt
Start: 2023-09-16T14:00:00+02:00
End: 2023-09-17T19:00:00+02:00
Location: Église-Mairie de Maincourt-sur-Yvette

A rare building

16 i 17 septiembre 2023Passed

AB - Mairie de Dampierre en Yvelines

A rare building

Did you know that the Saint-Germain church in Paris, which became a town hall-church at the Restoration, is, by this dual function, a real rarity in France?
Generally closed, the doors of this decidedly ecumenical building open only about once a quarter, to welcome a Protestant cult, and irregularly for Catholic masses of marriage, baptism or funeral. And this, by entering first by the Town Hall...

Archival exhibition

Photographs from the archives of the former municipality (at the time when Maincourt sur Yvette was still an independent commune) relate among other things the construction of the wash house of Maincourt, where the reconstruction of the chapel.

Guided tour and/or audio-guided

You will be welcomed by a (e) volunteer who will give you the documentation allowing you to discover the detailed history of this unusual place with rural charm and peaceful, and to discover the objects of yesteryear: - In the Town Hall: bust of Marianne, electoral material of the time when the town hall was still functioning. - In the Church: polychrome wooden statue, chasubles, lectern A QR code available on the door of the town hall and inside the church also allows you to follow, via your smartphone, the audio-guided tour of the chapel proposed by wiguide.com

About the location

Église-Mairie de Maincourt-sur-Yvette

Rue de la Vallée 78720 Dampierre-en-Yvelines

Yvelines
Île-de-France

The double vocation, secular and religious, of this building makes it a rarity in France since the entrance porch of the church Saint-Germain-de-Paris houses the town hall since 1890\. This realization of the Restoration came to crown an eventful history, which began in the thirteenth century. when the first Châtelains de Chevreuse founded in 1204 a first chapel placed under the patronage of Saint-Georges. Burned and rebuilt in the 16th century and entirely panelled, it passes under that of Saint-Germain-de-Paris. Destroyed again in 1819 it is rebuilt in 1820 in millstone extracted from the nearby quarry. The town hall has not been used since the amalgamation of the town of Maincourt-sur-Yvette with Dampierre-en-Yvelines in 1974\. The church, which is dedicated to Catholic worship, nevertheless welcomes Protestant worship once or twice a month.