Saint-Martin de Pont-à-Mousson, Gothic church in Pont-à-Mousson, France
Saint-Martin is a former Antonine collegiate church built from the 13th to the 15th century as a three-aisled basilica with a four-bay nave, a narrow transept and a three-bay choir ending in a seven-sided apse. Its Flamboyant west front has two octagonal towers modelled on Toul Cathedral, a rose window above a triple portal whose figures were remade in the 19th century, and a non-projecting transept that once held the rood screen.
Saint-Martin was built from the late 13th century as the church of an Antonine house attached to the town's leper hospital, and was first consecrated in September 1335 by Daniel, vicar general of the Bishop of Metz. The present building replaced that first church from the late 14th century and was finished in the early 15th. In 1574 the Jesuits received it for their university, using it until their expulsion from Lorraine in 1768; on 3 June 1786 it became the parish church of the Moselle's right bank under Saint Martin.
The church holds the Sepulchre of Pont-à-Mousson, a burial group of thirteen figures carved around 1420 by the Master of Pont-à-Mousson. Its crowded composition influenced later Entombments in Champagne and Lorraine, including works by Ligier Richier. Nearby are the recumbent effigies of a knight and a princess of Bar.
The church is located on Rue Gambetta and welcomes visitors during regular opening hours throughout the week. It participates in annual heritage day events that provide extended viewing opportunities and guided access to special areas.
The 1623 fire that damaged a tower gave rise to a legend: the furious ghost of the former prior of the Antonines was said to have appeared in the flames, taking revenge on the Jesuit brothers. The church also keeps a rood screen, one of the few surviving in Lorraine, moved under the organ loft by the Jesuits around 1610.
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