Sainte Marie de l’Assomption Church

Description

Rated a historical monument since 1925, this parish church stands on an esplanade affording a plunging view of the most ancient part of the village, as well as of the towers and the remains of ancient fortifications.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the Monks of Saint Pons erected a small chapel, the monument then being extended by the Canons of Saint Ruf during the 12th and 13th centuries with the addition of a Romanesque nave in the 12th century, arched in the centre and both to the right and left, creating a Gothic rib vault. The church features with one chevet apse and two flying buttresses. A superb Lombard-Romanesque belltower dating from the 12th century overlooks, from a height of 33 meters, the Faquin valley and the village.

Inside, take the guided tour and discover the 15th-century fresco, the 16th-century retable, the medieval holy water fonts, a 16th-century lying Christ, and Baroque altars and paintings.

On the esplanade, a recent stele retells an episode of the Second World War : in 1943-1944, Jewish children from Nice were placed in the care of the nuns of La Charité du bon et perpétuel secours and were hidden in the former presbytery of the church to save them from Nazi persecution.