Notre-Dame de Boulogne: a Boulogne-Billancourt church becomes a basilica, its history

Published by Graziella de Sortiraparis · Published on January 14, 2025 at 04:38 p.m.
On Sunday January 12, 2025, the oldest church in Boulogne-Billancourt became a basilica, the first in the Hauts-de-Seine region, during a mass. But how was this change decided, and what is its history?

The town of Boulogne-Billancourt experienced a major upheaval this weekend, with theelevation of Notre-Dame de Boulogne church to the status of basilica minor, during a mass on Sunday January 12, 2025. The town's oldest church, a historic monument since 1862, marks the birth of the town 700 years ago, and is a popular place of pilgrimage. According to canon law,the dignity of basilica is reserved for"churches remarkable for their antiquity, fame, grandeur or beauty", criteria which this church meets.

But how did the legend of this church come about? In the year 633, a boat ran aground in Boulogne-sur-Mer, while the Virgin Mary appeared in a chapel in the upper town, revealing the presence in the boat of a statue of her, to be brought there to build a church. Since then, a major pilgrimage has taken place here. In 1308, Philip IV the Fair went there for his daughter's wedding, and on his return to Paris, he also wanted to build a church dedicated to the Virgin on the same model, to make pilgrimage near the capital more accessible.

The village of Les Menus-les-Saint-Cloud was chosen, and his son Philippe V had the church built. In June 2024, Pope François, on the initiative of Mgr Matthieu Rougé, bishop of Nanterre, decreed that the church be elevated to the status of basilica minor, a rare historic event. It thus became the first basilica in the Hauts-de-Seine department! A tribute that comes before four years of restoration work, for a building in dire need of some work.

Practical information

Location

2 Rue de l'Église
92100 Boulogne Billancourt

Route planner

Official website
notredamedeboulogne.fr

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