Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours basilica (Saint-Avold)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in Saint-Avold in the Moselle department , France . The Marienkirche belongs to the diocese of Metz and has the rank of a minor basilica .
history
In the 16th century, on the road to Walmen , monks from the Benedictine Abbey of St. Nabor built a chapel for a statue of the Virgin Mary and , with the help of Christians, consecrated the "Walmer Chapel". Due to many reports of miracles on the site, the chapel became a popular place of pilgrimage. It was replaced at the end of the 17th century by a larger building, which the Benedictines probably built according to Vauban's plans . When the chapel was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution , the statue was hidden. From 1804 the chapel was rebuilt and the pilgrimage resumed.
The construction of a new chapel as an extension of the existing one was initiated by Father Georges-Auguste Lemire at the end of 1889. This large extension, popularly known as “The Valmer Chapel”, includes the choir facing east, a transept and a nave with three bays . A small bell tower with two bells was built over the crossing . More than 5000 believers attended the inauguration ceremony of the chapel on October 11, 1890 by Bishop Franz Ludwig Fleck , Bishop of Metz. The church was completed from 1896 and received its current appearance with the crossing dome . The consecration took place on October 7, 1902. The Marian pilgrimage became more and more important, whereupon the church was opened by Pope Pius XI. on August 31, 1932 was raised to the rank of minor basilica. During the Second World War, the dome was badly damaged and then restored. In 1946 the oldest tower of the basilica with the statue of the angel it was carrying was demolished.
architecture
.jpg)
The neo-Romanesque basilica stands on an extensive slope. The length of the building is 45 meters, while the Lorraine cross of the dome rises more than 33 meters above the floor of the nave.
Since September 1898 a baroque statue dedicated to the Virgin Mary has been installed in the niche of the west facade. It was created by the sculptor Pierre-François Le Roy (1739–1812) from Namur as a symbol of hope and comes from the old classic portal of Metz Cathedral designed by Blondel . The statue of Faith that accompanied them was located above the portal of the former Saint-Nabor abbey church .
The center of the church is the magnificent neo-renaissance dome and is dominated by a modern lantern . This dome rests on an octagonal drum with sixteen windows, the north and south surfaces of which are surmounted by triangular gables, thus suggesting a transept. The structure is supported by eight massive cylindrical columns, which are surmounted by strict Cistercian capitals. Halfway up they are adorned with the coats of arms of Saint-Avold and other Moselle towns.
Outside the church there is a Lourdes grotto and the tomb of Lemire.
Furnishing
Due to its architectural history, the church has two choirs : the main choir under the dome and the original choir around the St. Mary's altar, behind which there is the statue of Mary, Help of Christians. It dominates the nave, protected by an elegant canopy. It comes from the high altar that was removed in the 1960s.
The glass windows of the octagonal choir come from the workshop of Franz Xaver Zettler in Munich. The theme is the invitation to pray to Mary. The stained glass windows of the main choir and the nave are the work of the Höhner workshops in Nancy.
In the crypt , which was made accessible in 1950, there is a Pietà carved by Helmuth Muller (1910–1989).
literature
- Pascal Flaus, Sylvie Lagoutte, La basilique Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Saint-Avold (Moselle) , Ingersheim, 1999.
- André Pichler, Pascal Flaus, Histoire des Saint-Avold par ses monuments religieux , Societé d'histoire du Pays naborien, Merzig, 2015.
Web links
- Basilica website (French)
Individual proof
- ^ Basilique Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Notre Dame de Bon Secours (French)
Coordinates: 49 ° 5 ′ 56.4 " N , 6 ° 42 ′ 23.7" E