Notre-Dame d’Espérance

About

The Notre-Dame-d'Espérance Basilica of Charleville-Mézières is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church, given by Pius XII in 1946, located in Charleville-Mézières, in the Ardennes department. This Gothic-style church, built in 1499, is illuminated by an amazing adornment of modern stained glass made between 1954 and 1979 on the cardboards of the painter René Dürrbach. The name "Our Lady of Hope" was given to the church in the early 19th century when it received the statue of a Black Virgin venerated previously in a chapel nearby. It has been classified as historical monuments since 18 October 1910.

History of the basilica: The oldest mention of the church dates from 1156 with the construction of a castral chapel. Then in 1267 the first parish church was built to replace the chapel. On 27 May 1498 Cardinal Guillaume Briçonnet gave the parish priest of Mézières, Jean Civelli, indulgences for those who would contribute to the reconstruction of the church which had become too small. The construction of the present church began with the laying of the first stone on 25 April 1499. The old church is destroyed...