Basilica of Our Lady of Cléry explained

The Basilica of Our Lady of Cléry (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de Cléry) is a mid-fifteenth century Catholic basilica, on the site of earlier church buildings, in Cléry-Saint-André, north-central France.

History

The holiness of the church ground at Cléry began with the discovery in 1280 of a statue of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, to which miraculous properties were quickly attributed and a small chapel consecrated. In order to further facilitate pilgrimage Philip IV founded a collegiate church on the site about 1300.[1] That church was mostly destroyed in 1428 during the Hundred Years' War by English troops under the Earl of Salisbury; only the original square bell tower remains. On 15 August 1443, during a battle against the English, at Dieppe, Louis XI, then dauphin of France, vowed to rebuild a church at Cléry if he was victorious in the battle.[2] Following the French victory, reconstruction began under the direction of architects Pierre Chauvin and Pierre Lepage, but was not yet complete when Louis XI died in 1483.

Bibliography

47.8202°N 1.7554°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Basilique Notre-Dame de Cléry . https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loiret.com%2Fcgloiret%2Fstaticcontent%2Floiret_eglise_clery.php . 4 May 2011 . Loiret.
  2. Web site: Basilique Notre-Dame de Cléry-Saint-André . https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffr.structurae.de%2Fstructures%2Fdata%2F%3FID%3Ds0009993#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url . 5 December 2014 . Structurae.