The Church Saint Jacques et Saint Christophe of Houdan !!!

Posted in France, Versailles

This is another of the off the beaten path towns in a vastly popular dept no, 78 of Yvelines in the Île de France region of my belle France, Houdan is worth the detour me think. This is a new text and links using older pictures. This was my old road warrior ground as Houdan, 43 km from Versailles ,and 412 km from my current home. The nice road N12 (free road) passes by the town ,which take often on our road warrior trips in and around the area, Therefore, let me tell you about the Church Saint Jacques et Saint Christophe of Houdan !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Church Saint Jacques et Saint Christophe or the St James and St Christopher Church is of Gothic style built in the 15-16C with a renaissance choir, and an organ originally from 1739.  The first church of Houdan, at this site, was built in the 11C under the surname of Saint-Jacques-le-Major (St James the Mayor). It was rebuilt from the beginning of the 16C with the donations of the inhabitants against promises of indulgences. In 1510, the surname of Saint Christopher was added to that of Saint James. Private donation funding explains the length of the work: they ended in the early 18C. This is one of the characteristics of this church to have been made without any contributions from lords or members of the clergy. This explains that it does not house any monument, no tomb, no souvenir or trace of an illustrious character. The project itself started in 1517 and its construction started between 1525 and 1540, the time to raise enough funds by the donations of the Houdanais (locals). It took 250 years to carry out this project at its end: it is not over and in good condition at the time of the French revolution. After the French revolution and under the Committee of Public Safety (from July 1793 to July 1794) the church was converted to organize the cult of the reason of the atheists hebertists (Fall 1793-Spring 1794), then the cult of being Supreme of the Mountain Deists (spring 1794-summer 1794). Many churches were thus transformed, but rare are those which still retain the inscription, a vestige of a period which is extremely short in our history.

houdan-ch-st-jacque-st-chirst-front

See the tracery of flamboyant style on the windows, and the Renaissance capitals on the pillars of the transept. The transept has only one arm and the upper part of the steeple is missing; probably for lack of funding. The Church Saint-Jacques-et-Saint-Christophe is 50 meters long, with a fairly stripped interior, is nonetheless worth the visit for its juxtaposition of the various artistic styles, from the gothic walls to the altarpiece of the high altar of 1672, not to mention a 1582 fresco. The canopy is made of white stained glass where fragments of 16C stained glass were inserted, some with a very beautiful greyness.

houdan-ch-st-jacque-st-christop

The nave is flamboyant Gothic style, while the bedside and the apse already manifests the characteristics of the Renaissance style. Rodin, the famous sculptor, made many sketches of the church , of which he was in love with the lines. He compared the bedside of the church (the rear) seen with hindsight from the rue d’Epernon, to “a majestic train”. His sketches of the Church are kept at the Rodin Museum in Paris. One of the chapels on the northern side of the Church Saint Jacques et Saint Christophe presents an original and unique fresco, discovered in 1949 ,and which commemorates the pilgrimage made by around thirty Houdanais local pilgrims in 1582, to invoke the Virgin, so that the scourge of the plague which was rampant in the region ceases.

houdan-stained-glass-ch-st-jac-st-christ

The Clicquot organ globally recognized, is unique and is considered an authentic witness to the classic French organ. This is the concern to maintain the total authenticity of the instrument which is at the origin of its current success, because Houdan is one of the rare places where one can execute and hear the organ music of the 17C and 18C as people of the time could do. This is possible thanks to the ancient mechanics which is considered to be outstanding and allows the prowess of execution that the modern instruments no longer allow to achieve. At the beginning of the 20C, the great organ of Louis-Alexandre Clicquot had become almost unusable after many concerns, on June 3, 1972, in the presence of Mrs. Georges Pompidou, wife of the President of the Republic, the local Houdanais had joy , and the pride of hearing this jewel of the 18C organ resonated again under the fingers of the famous organist Marie-Claire Alain.

houdan-altar-rosary-window-ch-st-jacques-et-st-christo

The Houdan tourist office on the Church:  https://en.tourisme-pays-houdanais.fr/blog/church-of-saint-jacques-saint-christophe-in-houdan/

The City of Houdan on the church : https://www.villehoudan.fr/le-patrimoine/leglise/

The Yvelines dept 78 tourist office on Houdan :https://www.destination-yvelines.fr/visiter-houdan-ville-medievale/

This is an overlook town for those visiting the Paris/Versailles corridor and as it is still an off the beaten path area that visitors should try to visit more if can. There is so much to see, I know!!! Anyway, Houdan is nice and lovely city center around the castle and donjon tower, the market right next to the Church all around you! Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Jacques et Saint Christophe of Houdan !!! as I

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

Unknown's avatar

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.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.