Église Sainte-Eugénie

English translation

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History

The Church of Sainte Eugénie, situated at the heart of the railway station district, owes its construction to a bequest that the Countess of Finfe makes to the town for the installation of a fountain, the building of two primary schools and the church. The works, entrusted to architect-surveyor Casimir Truchy, begin in 1879 and are completed in 1881. In accordance with the wishes of the donor, the architect did not draw inspiration from neo-Gothic style but from a Romano-Byzantine style which makes the building similar to the cathedral of Sainte-Marie-Majeure in Marseille. Damaged during both world wars, the church has always been restored identically. Some internal modifications were nevertheless introduced in the course of the 20th century to respond to changes in the liturgy and to improve comfort. The destructions of the First World War made possible the creation and installation of a set of figured stained-glass windows, created from 1932 to 1938 according to a new technique, uniting reshapen glass panes and a network of cement. These works, created by master glazier Auguste Labouret, were partly destroyed in December 1944, then replaced in 1956 and 1957 by new creations by the same artist. It is for its stained-glass windows that the church, whose architecture is characteristic of the eclecticism practised in the second half of the 19th century, is protected.