Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Noisy-le-Sec, Parish church in Noisy-le-Sec, France
The église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Noisy-le-Sec is a parish church on Rue Dombasle in the town of Noisy-le-Sec, in the Île-de-France region. It has a long central nave topped by three large domes, with two side aisles of different widths, and the domes rise high enough to allow rows of stained glass windows to light the interior.
A small chapel was built on the site in 1912 but quickly became too small, leading to the construction of a new church in 1929, designed by architect Bernard Haubold and overseen by the Œuvre des Chantiers du Cardinal. The church opened on January 11, 1931, inaugurated by Cardinal Jean Verdier, though the planned bell tower was never fully completed and was further damaged in the 1944 bombings.
The church is dedicated to John the Baptist, the prophet known for baptizing Jesus, and his story runs through the entire interior. The stained glass windows created by Marie-Jo Guével in 1993 show three key moments of his life and fill the nave with colored light throughout the day.
The church sits in the center of Noisy-le-Sec and is easy to reach on foot from the surrounding streets. Visiting outside of Sunday services gives more time to look at the stained glass windows without interruption.
When the church opened in 1931, the bell tower had not been finished due to lack of funds, so the bell was hung in a temporary wooden frame built on top of the surrounding wall. That bell was blessed with the names of three children from the parish, a detail that connected the new building directly to the families who would use it.
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