Outdoors. Indoors. The Church of Notre-Dame (Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located in

Villeneuve-sur-Yonne Villeneuve-sur-Yonne () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. It is surrounded by a partly intact wall, built during the 12th century, which was one of the 8 residences of the French kings. G ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(North of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

). It is dedicated to Our Lady of the

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

and is a church of the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre.

History

Its first stone was blessed by

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...

in 1163 at the same time of

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

. The great Renaissance porch was built in 1575 from sketchings of Jean Chéreau, born in

Joigny Joigny () is a commune in the Yonne département in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. It is located on the banks of the river Yonne. History The current city, originally known as Joviniacum in Latin, was founded during Roman ti ...

. The Church was registered in 1862 into

Monuments historiques () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

. Eglise Notre-Dame de l'Assomption It is a remarkable example of a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

from the School of Champagne, or Île de France. Some of the

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s are from the 13th century (north side) and others from the 16th century (''The Life of the Virgin'', south side, 1st chapel). You can notice one of the first examples in a stained glass of a figure with spectacles. This window depicting the

Last Judgement The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

is due to

Jean Cousin the Younger Jean Cousin the Younger ("le jeune", sometimes given as Jehan in the old style instead of Jean) (ca. 1522–1595) was born in Sens, France around 1522, the son of the famous painter and sculptor Jean Cousin the Elder ca. 1490–ca. 1560) who ...

. The statue of the ''Virgin with a Bird'' (14th century) is from a royal manufacturer (right side). A ''Madonna with the Child'' is a polychromatic statue from the 16th century (left side). Other interesting elements are paintings such as ''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' (around 1780) from

François-Guillaume Ménageot François-Guillaume Ménageot (1744–1816) was a French painter of religious and French historical scenes. A pupil of François Boucher (1703–1770), he went on to win the Grand Prix de Rome and become a director of the French Academy in R ...

, an Immaculate Conception and a portrait of '' saint Louis worshipping the

Crown of thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or ) was placed on the head of Jesus during the Passion of Jesus, events leading up to his crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion. It was one of the Arma Christi, instruments of the Passion, e ...

''.Jean-Luc Dauphin, ''op. cit'', p. 28 The organ (18th century) was restored in 1992. Concerts are organized during summer.

Gallery

image:Adoration Bergers Ménageot.JPG, ''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' (from Ménageot) image:Orgue de tribune de Villeneuve-sur-Yonne (Yonne) France.JPG, Organ (18th century) image:Notre Dame des Vertus.JPG, The ''Virgin with the Bird'' (14th century) image:Autel Villeneuve.JPG, Main altar (18th century)

Notes

References

*Jean-Luc Dauphin, ''Découvrir Villeneuve-sur-Yonne et le Villeneuvien'', éditions des Amis du Vieux Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, 1994 *

Eugène Lefèvre-Pontalis Eugène Lefèvre-Pontalis (12 February 1862 – 31 October 1923) was a French medievalist and archeologist. Following his studies at the ''Lycée Condorcet'', in 1881 he entered the École Nationale des Chartes, where he wrote a thesis on religiou ...

, �
L'Église de Villeneuve-sur-Yonne
», Congrès archéologique de France, LXXIVe session : séances générales tenues à Avallon en 1907, Paris/Caen, A. Picard / H. Delesques, vol. 70, 1908, pp. 654–674

External links

Official website
{{coord, 48.0820, N, 3.2948, E, source:wikidata, display=title Villeneuve Monuments historiques of Yonne