By Gilles Patry
Published on
26 Apr 24 at 4:16 p.m.
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The Heritage Foundation has just revealed the list of the first 100 buildings which will benefit from the national collection in favor of the religious heritage of the villages of France.
Among the five sites selected in Normandy, we find the church of Sainte-Cécile, near Villedieu-les-Poêles (Manche), including the state of conservation left something to be desired.
The Cecilian building, at the discreet silhouette below the village, whose origin dates back to the Seventeenth century, has been rebuilt in the 19th century.
During the battle for Liberation in 1944, the windows created by master glassmaker Charles Lorin did not resist machine gunfire and bombs.
In 2018, a diagnosis noted “ a weakening of the frameworkof the nave and choir, a shift towards the exterior of the sand pits » but also “ water infiltration on the roof which caused deterioration of the ceilings and interior coatings.”
A subscription from 2019
Of the 2019, a subscription was launched to restore this municipal heritage which is not registered as a historic monument. In 2023, the municipality launched a restoration project.
” We have redo the bell tower And since November 11 the bells have been ringing again.Now, detail Françoise Cahumayor of the locality of 830 inhabitants , we are in the process of repairing the framework and the roof. We also took over the nave by reconstituting it in wood as originally.For the moment, we are not touching the choir. »
€610,000 of work
This work is due to be completed this year. They were a priority: “ It was becoming urgent. We had to close the church “. Cost of the operation: €610,000, 80% subsidized.
“We benefited from the Recovery plan and help from the department. »
The restoration of the church is not yet complete: “we will have to come back to it in the next term at the level of the choir.The registration of the building in the national collectionis a welcome opportunity for the municipality: “We don’t know how much we will have but it will help us continue this project“.
A call for donations is launched
The Heritage Foundation is launching an appeal for donations. At national scale, the financing requirement is estimated at 15 million euros.
” Nowadays, more than 12,000 donorshave already broughtmore than 2.3 million eurosto collection, an unprecedented success for a thematic operation without previously identified beneficiaries. »Donations are deductible from income tax.
The rescue of the church of Sainte-Cécile is at the heart of this national action launched in 2023, during heritage days, by the President of the Republic topreserve religious buildings in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
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