Open all year. Every day from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Started in 1499, the construction lasted 120 years, reusing the foundations and some elements of the primitive Romanesque church. Late Flamboyant Gothic style of great unity, with five naves and no external buttresses. The narrowness of the central nave and the absence of capitals accentuates the impression of height (18 m). Observe the exceptional vaults with twenty-one cross-ribbed keys, with large, richly decorated pendentives. Great diversity of carved decorations at the top of the Gothic windows. Renaissance style for the grandstand staircase and the exterior of the large west portal. The neo-Gothic south portal (restored in 2009) and the spire were added in the 1944th century. The sober and stripped interior was restored after the XNUMX bombardment.
The Black Virgin of Mézières has been honored since the 1962th century. The annual pilgrimage continued until 1643. Burned in 1521, the statue was replaced in the 1570th century by the current stone statue. 1815: siege of Mézières by the army of Charles V, Germanic Emperor. 1870: marriage in the church of Mézières, of the king of France Charles IX and Elisabeth of Austria. Wars of religion, French Revolution, 1918, 1944, 1946, XNUMX: the church was ravaged and bombed many times during the wars. In XNUMX, it was elevated to the rank of Basilica by Pope Pius XII.
The Stained Glass Windows: Made between 1955 and 1979, the stained glass windows are the work of René DÜRRBACH (1911-1999), painter and sculptor, collaborator and friend of Picasso. Stained glass windows mounted in the workshop of Master Glassmaker André Seurre, in Besançon – Installed by Jean Lanfranchi, glazier in Mézières. More than 1000 m2 of stained glass divided into sixty-eight windows, witnesses to the non-figurative Art of the second half of the XNUMXth century. The artist uses the symbolism of colors, numbers and fundamental signs (cross, heart, circle, square.) to create an oriented meditation journey, dedicated to Mary, both “Black Virgin” and “Virgin of Hope ".
The Organ: Built in 1997 by the Koenig factory in Sarre-Union, it is a fully mechanical organ with forty registers, made in the classic style of Northern European organs.
Organ concerts in July and August (orguebasilique.free.fr), guided tours throughout the year, whether around the stained glass windows, a discovery tour of the organs, a panoramic tour or a walking tour of the city from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance… In season: walks around the ramparts / torchlight tours.
The basilica also houses the sacred treasure of the Ardennes (03 24 32 44 75)
The Black Virgin of Mézières has been honored since the 1962th century. The annual pilgrimage continued until 1643. Burned in 1521, the statue was replaced in the 1570th century by the current stone statue. 1815: siege of Mézières by the army of Charles V, Germanic Emperor. 1870: marriage in the church of Mézières, of the king of France Charles IX and Elisabeth of Austria. Wars of religion, French Revolution, 1918, 1944, 1946, XNUMX: the church was ravaged and bombed many times during the wars. In XNUMX, it was elevated to the rank of Basilica by Pope Pius XII.
The Stained Glass Windows: Made between 1955 and 1979, the stained glass windows are the work of René DÜRRBACH (1911-1999), painter and sculptor, collaborator and friend of Picasso. Stained glass windows mounted in the workshop of Master Glassmaker André Seurre, in Besançon – Installed by Jean Lanfranchi, glazier in Mézières. More than 1000 m2 of stained glass divided into sixty-eight windows, witnesses to the non-figurative Art of the second half of the XNUMXth century. The artist uses the symbolism of colors, numbers and fundamental signs (cross, heart, circle, square.) to create an oriented meditation journey, dedicated to Mary, both “Black Virgin” and “Virgin of Hope ".
The Organ: Built in 1997 by the Koenig factory in Sarre-Union, it is a fully mechanical organ with forty registers, made in the classic style of Northern European organs.
Organ concerts in July and August (orguebasilique.free.fr), guided tours throughout the year, whether around the stained glass windows, a discovery tour of the organs, a panoramic tour or a walking tour of the city from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance… In season: walks around the ramparts / torchlight tours.
The basilica also houses the sacred treasure of the Ardennes (03 24 32 44 75)
Services
Equipments
Activities on site
- Group entertainment
- Specific thematic animation
- concerts
- Guided tour
