Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Alençon
| Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Alençon | |
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A northern view of the basilica, showing its 18th-century steeple, flying buttresses, and the Gothic porch
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| Basic information | |
| Location | 48°25′47″N 0°5′19″E / 48.42972°N 0.08861°ECoordinates: 48°25′47″N 0°5′19″E / 48.42972°N 0.08861°E |
| Affiliation | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| State | France |
| Province | Diocese of Séez |
| Region | Orne |
| Country | France |
| Website | www |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Basilica parish |
| Architectural style | French Gothic |
| Groundbreaking | 1300s |
| Completed | c. 1500 |
| Official name: Église Notre-Dame | |
| Designated | 1862 |
| Reference no. | PA00110692 |
| Denomination | Église |
The Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Alençon (French: Basilique Notre-Dame d'Alençon) is a Gothic parish church located in Alençon, Orne, France. It was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
A Romanesque church dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin already existed on the current site of the basilica in the 12th century. This earlier structure may have featured a wooden-roofed nave. It was a priory church founded by and dependent upon the Abbey of Lonlay (for which the commune in which it is located, Lonlay-l'Abbaye, is named). Later it became parish church, and was enlarged for the purpose. Construction on the nave of the current structure began as early as before the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). Aisles were added onto the nave in about 1470, and substantial work on the fabric of the church continued until the early 16th century.
In about the year 1500, during the time of the Blessed Margaret of Lorraine, a new master builder, Jehan Lemoine, made substantial changes to the architectural project of the church. He built the elaborate Porch of the Transfiguration on its west side, and decorated the nave with its current star-patterned vaults and richly-decorated ribs, supported on the outside by two ranks of flying buttresses. At that time, side chapels were placed between the abutments of the buttresses.
The end result was a Gothic structure characteristic of late-Medieval Norman architecture, but it underwent later transformations. The decoration of the portal, for example, was defaced during the Wars of Religion (1562–1598). Also, in August 1744, lightning struck the wooden bell tower and the resulting fire destroyed the choir and transepts. The engineer Jean-Rodolphe Perronet rebuilt those parts of the church between 1745 and 1762, constructing the squat steeple at the crossing. Further damage was done during the French Revolution, when the church was looted and devastated, such that by the middle of the 19th century, it threatened to fall into ruin. Subsequent restoration campaigns, however, succeeded in saving the church.
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