Saint-Étienne, Uzès : History Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint-Étienne, Uzès

Church in Gard, France

44°00′39″N 4°25′08″E / 44.01083°N 4.41889°E / 44.01083; 4.41889LocationUzès, Gard, FranceDenominationCatholic ChurchHistoryDedicationSaint StephenArchitectureStyleBaroqueGroundbreaking1764 (1764)Completed1774AdministrationDioceseDiocese of Nîmes

Historic site

Monument historique

TypeÉgliseDesignated29 November 1974Reference no.PA00103254^[1]

The Church of Saint-Étienne is a Roman Catholic church located in Uzès, in the Gard department of France. The baroque church was built in the mid-18th century, and is listed as a French monument historique.

History

Commissioned by Bishop Bonaventure Baüyn, the Bishop of Uzès,^[2] the Church of Saint-Étienne was built to replace a previous church at the same site that had been destroyed by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion and used as a store and arsenal.^[1] The only element that remains of the original church is the bell tower, which dates to the 13th century and was spared to be used as a defensive watchtower. Construction on the baroque building occurred between 1764 and 1774, according to the designed by Pierre Bondon, an architect from Avignon. The cruciform church is laid out in the form of a Greek cross.^[2]

The church was classified as a monument historique on 29 November 1974.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Monument historique – PA00103254". Mérimée database of Monuments Historiques (in French). Ministère de la Culture. 1993. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Sept ans de travaux pour restaurer et préserver l'église Saint Etienne" [Seven years of work to restore and preserve the church of Saint Etienne]. Ville d'Uzès (in French). Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.