The Église Notre-Dame du Raincy (Church of Notre Dame du Raincy) 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 in the commune of

Le Raincy Le Raincy () is a prestigious communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Le Raincy is a subprefecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis departments of France, department and ...

near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It was built in 1922-23 by the French

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s Auguste Perret and Gustave Perret. The edifice is considered a monument of

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

in architecture, using reinforced concrete in a manner that expresses the possibilities of the new material.

Design and construction

At the beginning of the 20th century, Le Raincy was a small parish church for suburbs whose population was rapidly growing. In 1918, the parish priest of Le Raincy, Felix Nègre, proposed to build a church to commemorate the French victory in the Battle of the Marne in 1914. Through connections among parishioners, Nègre came into contact with the Perrets. The design used concrete for economy. Rather than attempting to simulate masonry, the new material was used on its own terms, with standardized elements, slender supports, and thin membranes pierced by windows. The completed church received widespread favorable attention, influencing architectural thought at a time of rebuilding and economic recovery.

Glass

The magnificent

stained glass 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 ...

was created by Marguerite Huré using colored coatings on clear glass for economy. The colors are dominated by blues near the entry and progress to warmer tones in the sanctuary.

Organ

The 1875 John Abbey

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

belonging to the original parish church was moved to the new church. Changes made in 1957 changed its character. Public donations are now being sought for a new organ. The new organ was inaugurated by Pierre Pincemaille on october, the 17th of 2010.

Restoration

At the time of the church's construction, concrete was still an experimental material. Deterioration was evident by the 1960s, and analysis showed that the original concrete mix contained an excess of lime and water. Coverage of the steel reinforcing rods was also inadequate, especially in the thin members of the tower, which were exposed to rain. The church was listed as a historic monument in 1966. Two programmes of conservative restoration have been undertaken by Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques since 1990, the more recent benefitting from developments in technique for restoring reinforced concrete and its steel reinforcements.

Copies

In 1937, at the Tokyo Woman's Christian University, a chapel was built that was similar to Notre-Dame du Raincy. It is around half the size. The copy by architect Antonín Raymond was unauthorised. Christine Viskenne-Auzanneau argues that: "Reimann knew about Notre Dame du Raincy". The Czech architect Bedřich Feuerstein came to Tokyo in 1926 and worked with Reimann between 1926 and 1931, after working a year in France with the Perret brothers. Three

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

' churches, the Church of St. John the Baptist in

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western p ...

, the Church of St. Augustine in

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

and the Church of St. Susanna in

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

, are also inspired by Notre-Dame du Raincy. The Raincy church also led to other inspirations in Japan.Koichi Yoshida, « Auguste Perret », Kashima Shuppankaù 1985, p. 222-229. Koichi Yoshida, « Lo Rainsi Noturu damu » (« L'église Notre-Dame du Raincy — son originalité et son influence »), NihonGakkai, n° 341, p. 127-133.

References

External links

Notre-Dame du Raincy at Structurae website
; page in English
notredameduraincy.fr/en
- Pay donation here (bank card or PayPal.
longitudinal section of the church

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Website of Notre-Dame du Raincy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Notre-Dame Du Raincy Churches in Seine-Saint-Denis Roman Catholic churches completed in 1923 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France