"A Royal town of France" a Mantes-la-Jolie Travel Page by pedmar

masterpiece of the city, and visited by Kings Louis XIV and XV therefore it is one of the royal towns of FRance: the city is in departement Yvelines west of Paris, same dept as Versailles.

a bit of history
work began in 1150,and was completed in 1350. The south tower was built in 1250 and the north tower in 1510.
dimensions
67,70 meters long
57,70 meters long of the nave and choir
11,75 meters of the nave
29,90 meters of the central vaults ceilings
54,40 meters high of the towers
29,70 meters wide of its front facade.


During the FRench revolution the collegiale church was heavily damaged in particularly the statues in its front facade wre mutilated. in 1794. The building was converted into a temple of reason then gun powder factory and arsenal. After the signing of the concordat in 1801, the works began for restauration. The restauration of the north tower took place in 1851 to 1855 by Alphonse Durand, architect of Mantes-la-Jolie,and disciple of Viollet-le-Duc. It rebuilt the south tower indentical as before.

On may 30th 1944,an important bombing raid allied trying for the port of Mantes, destroyed an old section of old town,and the collegiale was lightly touched. The tiles on roof were redone entirely in 2001-2002. The rosade stained glass windows was restored in 2003.

now housing a beautiful gothic,medieval museum with many items once inside the collegiale de Notre Dame, containing

works by
Maximilien Luce
Collection Duhamel
medieval period

impressive medieval tower once housing a monastery, the tower is all that is left. right in city center around the market, very nice visit