Église du Sacré-Cœur, Gothic Revival church in central Moulins, France.
The Église du Sacré-Cœur is a Gothic Revival church built of Coulandon sandstone, with a west facade of three pointed-arch portals whose tympana are carved with Sacred Heart scenes. Its nave has three bays, and the choir is ringed by an ambulatory with radiating chapels. Vaults rise 24 metres, and the two facade spires reach 74 metres above the place d'Allier.
The parish of Saint-Nicolas was established in 1751 in the boatmen's quarter and used the former Dominican convent church, built in the early 15th century. In 1839 Abbé Martinet decided to build a new church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the first in France with that dedication. The diocesan architect Esmonnot first proposed a Romanesque design, but Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus's Gothic Revival scheme was chosen and built under the Second Empire. The church was listed as a monument historique on 30 September 1991.
The west facade's three portals each carry a carved tympanum on the theme of the Sacred Heart, so the dedication is read on the stone before entering. The parish of Saint-Nicolas, set up in 1751 in the Loire boatmen's quarter, was the predecessor community; its church was the former Dominican convent building from the early 15th century.
The church stands at the western end of the place d'Allier, in central Moulins between the ducal palace quarter and the Allier river. Enter by the three west portals; the central one is the widest. The vaults rise 24 metres, and the two facade spires reach 74 metres above the square, so the building is easy to locate from the square itself.
The parish of Saint-Nicolas was established in 1751 among Loire boatmen, and its church was the former Dominican convent building from the early 15th century. The present church, begun after Abbé Martinet's 1839 decision, was the first in France dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Its two facade spires rise 74 metres above the place d'Allier, facing the cathedral's towers.
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