Église Saint-Sulpice-et-Saint-Antoine de Bitry, classified historical monument church in Bitry, Oise, France

Église Saint-Sulpice-et-Saint-Antoine de Bitry is a stone church in the village of Bitry, built on the foundations of a Gallo-Roman temple. Its massive tower, raised in the 12th century and topped with a pyramidal spire completed before 1180, is the oldest in the Soissonnais. The nave and seigneurial chapel were rebuilt from 1520 in Flamboyant Gothic style, with sculpted decoration of the early Renaissance. The building retains part of the walls of a 9th-century stone church within the tower.

The church was built on the site of an ancient Roman temple and early Christian monastery, surviving Norman and Hungarian invasions as well as the Wars of Religion and French Revolution. Its architecture bears traces of these periods, with expansions and early Renaissance decorative elements added in the 16th century.

The name joins Sulpice, Archbishop of Bourges who died in 647, with Saint Anthony. The church grew around a spring later called the Fontaine Saint-Sulpice, marked by a megalith, and the village itself formed around this sanctuary because serfs could be buried beside it.

The church stands at the heart of Bitry, its pyramid spire visible above the rooftops as a landmark for orientation. The building is a classified Monument historique (11 December 1912), so its stonework and carved decoration should not be touched. Visitors enter on foot from the village lanes; the interior holds 18th-century furnishings, and quiet is expected during worship.

The church's pyramidal stone spire is among the region's oldest and dates to a period when such tower tops were exceptionally rare. This architectural detail makes it a rare example of early medieval construction technique in the area.