Église Notre-Dame, Bonneval, Gothic church in Bonneval, France

Église Notre-Dame in Bonneval is a three-aisled basilica of early Gothic style, built mostly in the early 13th century, 47 m long, 20 m wide at the facade and 19 m at the flat chevet. Its central nave and two side aisles of seven bays each are flanked by buttresses steadied by slender flying arches, the first three carrying grotesque gargoyles. A triforium of pointed arcades runs around the nave, whose stone vault rests on twelve columns; the slate spire rises 65 m above the ground.

The church is mostly early 13th-century Gothic, though the lower parts of the flat chevet and three windows in each aisle are round-arched and point to the late 12th century, making its start contemporary with Chartres Cathedral. The gables with crockets and the 65-metre slate spire with its gallery date from the 16th century. It has been a classified monument historique since 1954.

The 1871 rose window above the main altar shows the patron saints of the churches and chapels of old Bonneval: the Virgin at the centre, the Saviour above, and saints Michael, Martin, Maurice and James the Great on the left, Roch, John the Evangelist, Laurence and Giles on the right. The parish belongs to Saint Paul en Val, in the deanery of Dunois.

The church is 47 m long, 20 m wide at the facade and 19 m at the chevet. Look for the three gargoyles on the first three buttresses of the side aisles, and the iron beam across the nave that replaced wooden crosspieces after the 1665 flood destabilised several columns.

The 65-metre slate spire, added in the 16th century, carries a gallery and shelters three bells; two are listed, one cast in 1598 and the other in 1793. The spire is the tallest element of the building and can be picked out from across Bonneval.