Notre-Dame de la consolation du Raincy
Called the Holy Chapel of concrete, Notre-Dame du Raincy was designed in 1922 by the famous architect Auguste Perret, the precursor of concrete architecture. Its stainglasses by Marguerité Huré and Maurice Denis are spectacular.
Notre-Dame du Raincy visit
Notre-Dame du Raincy is open everyday from 9am to 7pm and is easily reachable from Paris by RER E, station Le Raincy Villemomble Montfermeil, 10’ walk to Notre-Dame. Locate Notre-Dame du Raincy on the map.
Le Raincy 93340 France
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Notre-Dame du Raincy history
Notre-Dame du Raincy, also known as the Holy Chapel of Concrete, is the first religious edifice made out of this material until then reserved for industrial construction. In 1922, Canon Negre, the priest of Le Raincy consulted the famous architect Auguste Perret to build a church. He had only 300,000 francs at that time and the most advantageous quote that was presented to him amounted to 1,800,000 francs. Perret took up the challenge. Money imposed the material to be used: he opted for concrete, which according to him, was adapted to all schools of thought, even the most daring. It was up to the architect to make a beautiful creation, to highlight the material. And so Auguste Perret built the church in Le Raincy.
The concrete church reaches up to the bell-tower that dominates the 45 meters-high facade. Columns of concrete of decreasing size and framing the stained glass windows fit perfectly into each other in the manner of a telescopic antenna. The facades built in a concrete filigree allow daylight to filter through. The church construction lasted from April 1922 to June 1923 and the work was carried out by one of the architect’s brothers, the building-contractor Gustave Perret.
The iconographic program of the ten large windows was entrusted to the master glassmaker Marguerite Huré. She produced all the geometric motives on a limited budget over little more than a year (1922-1923). Marguerite Huré had introduced abstract art to religious stained glass. The deeply rooted tradition of the stained glass windows prompted the client to have Marguerite Huré's abstract drawings surrounded by figurative bays by Maurice Denis.
