Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois de Presles, Gothic church in Presles, France.

The church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois is built of light beige stone. To the left, a tall section with a steeply pitched reddish-brown tiled roof and two pointed-arch windows with tracery stands beside a lower nave with a single round-arched window. The square tower, on the right, has a clock face, two tiers of arched openings and a dark pyramidal slate roof. Inside, pale stone piers carry pointed arches and ribbed vaults; the central vessel ends in a rounded apse with tall lancet windows, and a dark wooden altar with a crucifix stands before it.

The church is first documented in the mid-12th century, when Orphin, lord of Presles, and his wife Basille were excommunicated for seizing it; they returned it to the bishop, who gave it to the Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory in Paris. The oldest surviving elements, in the Saint-Joseph chapel north of the choir, date from that period. Most of the building, however, is Flamboyant Gothic from the late 15th and mid-16th centuries, with a 14th-century bell tower and a facade of 1876. It was inscribed as a monument historique on 16 June 1926.

The church keeps twenty-two 17th-century choir stalls brought from Saint-Cloud; six of them carry 16th-century misericords. Look for the carved underside ledges, which show figures and scenes a standing visitor would not see.

The building is accessible from multiple surrounding streets and can be visited during daylight hours. Visitors should note that Sunday services happen in the morning, and opening times may vary depending on religious activities.

A Merovingian burial ground was found beneath the church forecourt, revealing that the site had religious importance long before the current structure was built. These early burials show a spiritual history reaching back to the early medieval period.