the “Little Notre-Dame” of Seine-et-Marne hits the Heritage Foundation jackpot

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It was the only church in Seine-et-Marne to appear in the list of the first 100 beneficiaries of the national collection for the religious heritage of the villages of France… Six months after this announcement, we now know the amount of aid which will benefit the renovation of theSaint-Paul church from Chailly-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne).

Thanks to the Heritage Foundation, towards the restoration of the bell tower

“In support of the religious heritage of the villages, we have mobilized €16.7 million,” indicates the Heritage Foundation. In this context, 6.6 million euros will be directed to 100 'little Notre-Dames' in French villages and towns. A symbolic endowment, before the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, the work of which was entirely financed thanks to public generosity. »

In detail, the church of Chailly-en-Bière will receive the sum of €45,000 out of the €295,000 allocated to churches in Île-de-France. “It’s an enormous satisfaction and the reward for the efforts of all the people who are mobilizing in the village to restore this monument of local heritage,” smiles Alain Thierythe mayor of Chailly-en-Bière, who even wrote to Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture, and to the Heritage Foundation, to thank them for their gesture.

“This will help us speed up the work with the end of the second phase which is in sight, and pave the way for the new phase, to restore the bell tower,” he continues. It must be said that the bell tower is also symbolic since it was immortalized by Jean-François Millet, in his famous painting The Angelus. The religious building, whose bell tower rises to almost 90 m, dominates the Bière plain. A dedication from the Archbishop of Sens attests to a reconstruction at the beginning of the 9th century.^e century.

“We must not rest on our achievements…”

The restoration project of the Saint-Paul church was launched in 2019 and a first phase has already made it possible to renovate the roof, part of the nave and the frame… by the same carpenters who restored Notre-Dame de Paris.

“Despite this announcement, we must not rest on our achievements and continue to raise funds,” warns Alain Thiery. It is thanks to the mobilization of everyone that we will succeed in restoring this monument of local heritage. »

In our columns, Bertrand Dehelly, deputy departmental delegate to the Heritage Foundation, welcomed “the mobilization and commitment” of the inhabitants of Chailly-en-Bière to save their church and the various subscriptions launched to achieve this.

In the village, everyone pitched in: even the baker offers raspberry tiles, part of the profits of which are dedicated to the restoration of the monument, classified as a Historic Monument since 1926.

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