The Church Saint Martin of Roubaix !!

Posted in Europe, France

Let me tell you about an off the beaten path City of the north of my belle France , of many family visits as my dear late wife Martine older brother lives nearby and always took advantage of the proximity to do my further road warrior trips in the area, I am glad to have found me more pictures in my cd rom vault that should be in my blog for you and me, Therefore, let me tell you about the Church Saint Martin of Roubaix !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The City of  Roubaix is in the dept no 59 of the Nord in the region of Hauts de France of my belle France. It is only 91 km from Caudry (see post) from where we came to visit it, This was along the Rue de la République bear left for a short ride on the D642 road and quickly bear right onto the Rue de Bevilliers or D16a road dir Bevilliers here bear right onto the D74 road bear left onto the D942 or Route Nationale then quickly bear right onto the D970 or rue de Boussiéres continue thru City center Rieux en Cambresis continue to Iwuy City center continues becomes the D630 road continue at exit/sortie 15 take the A2 autoroute and continue dir Valenciennes bear right into panel for the A23 autoroute rocade de Valenciennes beltway dir Lille continue at exit/sortie 2 bear left onto the N227 dir Roubaix at exit/sortie 7 bear right onto Roubaix Est M626 road continue bearing right onto the M60 road or Avenue de Roubaix continue on M6d towards Roubaix Centre on same Avenue de Roubaix at roundabout bear left onto the Rue de Croix or M64 road continue bear right onto Avenue de Flandre or M660 it becomes Avenue Jean Jaurés same road continue it becomes Bd du Général de Gaulle continue and by the Grand Pharmacie de Paris bear left onto Rue du Maréchal Foch continue bearing right by the Grand Place to the Church Saint Martin and on street parking,  

The Church Saint-Martin, the oldest in the city, whose origin could go back to around 881-887. Its existence is documented in 1169. However, nothing remains of the original Romanesque church, The current church succeeded a three-aisled Gothic structure built in the 15C, which was extensively remodeled in the mid-19C. Of the 15C church, only the facade tower, left unfinished in 1571, and a few nave columns remain. Reconstruction work extended from 1848 to 1859. Two naves were added, along with a monumental Neo-Gothic facade facing south onto the square. A second renovation campaign, focusing on the exterior, was undertaken in 2002. This led, in particular, to the removal of the stucco decorations, leaving the stone bare. The 16C tower on the facade is flanked by two portals decorated in the Neo-Gothic style. Similarly, the south facade features a monumental portal surmounted by three distinctive Neo-Gothic pinnacles.

The interior was also restructured, and the chancel was rebuilt. A first renovation project was carried out from 1968 to 1978, which notably included the removal of the interior Neo-Gothic decoration. The rectangular interior, quite wide, comprises five naves. The central nave is relatively narrow, and the three-tiered elevation includes a false triforium. The church houses several paintings, including an Assumption of the Virgin by Louis Joseph Watteau (1779), a Charity of Saint Martin by Victor Mottez (1867-68), and a Descent from the Cross by André Missant. It also contains a remarkable polychrome wooden altarpiece from the first half of the 16C (circa 1540), the altarpiece of Saint John the Baptist. At the far end, to the left of the north entrance, is the blue stone cenotaph of Francis, son of Jacques de Luxembourg, who died in 1472.

The Diocese of Roubaix on the Church Saint Martin : https://saintmartin.doyennederoubaix.com/leglise/

The Roubaix tourist office on the Church Saint Martin: https://www.roubaixtourisme.com/en/avoir/church-st-martin/

The City of Roubaix on its heritage (see monuments historiques) : https://api.getwemap.com/portals/le-patrimoine-de-roubaix

There you go folks,another wonderful off the beaten path City of my belle France. It is worth more time especially the shopping and we will be back, eventually.  Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Church Saint Martin of Roubaix !! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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