ÉGLISE SAINT SÉBASTIEN

When DUDON built the château in 997, he also had a chapel dedicated to St. Sebastian built alongside it. Several times during the Middle Ages, the chapel was burned, looted and ransacked during wars.

In 1482, Jean MENGIN, the parish priest of Dieulouard, had it razed to the ground and rebuilt on a larger scale with the help of donations. The modern Corinthian portal features a statue of St. Sebastian in a niche, two statues of angels and a cross.

The portal was added by Nicolas BARTHELEMY, parish priest of Dieulouard, in 1739. It is not lacking in elegance, but unfortunately not in the style of the church. One of the side walls features an inlaid stone depicting in relief the martyrdom of the parish?s patron saint. The ogival-style church has three naves supported by six pillars.

In 1890, the left nave was extended by one bay. Abbé MARCHAL, Dieulouard?s parish priest, paid for this construction work out of his own pocket, as well as the cost of repairing the organ. The choir, reached by two staircases of eight steps each, is adorned with carved oak panelling. The woodwork was designed by the architect of the Benedictine convent.

Beneath the choir is a crypt which appears to have been originally a 12th-century Gallic dwelling. Two staircases cut into the rock, each with seventeen steps, lead up to the crypt. The crypt comprises two bays: one forming the nave, the other the choir, at the end of which are three Romanesque windows.
On February 17, 1918, two German aerial torpedoes fell on the parish church without exploding. This event was considered a miracle, and contributed to the fulfillment of a war vow initiated by Abbé Gustave Clanché in August 1914, addressed to the "BONNE VIERGE EN TERRE", the country?s secular protector. A promise was made that if DIEULOUARD was spared invasion, a statue to NOTRE DAME would be erected on the summit of the Roches overlooking the tanneries.

The metal casings of the two bombs that fell in 1918 were attached to two pillars in the nave of the Eglise Saint Sébastien, and still amaze visitors today.

Beautifully restored statues of Jehanne (Joan of Arc) and Jehan (Jean de Dieulouard) take pride of place in the crypt of Saint-Sébastien church. Following the restoration of the church crypt, which was inaugurated in November 2022, Mayor Henri POIRSON decided to return them to their rightful place in this sacred space*. They surround the medieval statue of Notre-Dame-Des-Grottes, so dear to the hearts of the Deicustodians.

*The story of these statues is told during guided tours of the church.

DATAtourisme France