Basilica of Our Lady of Hope - Charleville-Mézières

The construction of the Basilica of Notre-Dame-d'Espérance lasted more than a century, between 1499 and 1615 : construction was interrupted several times, for example the siege of Mézières in 1521.

The name “Our Lady of Hope” was given to the church in the early 19th century when it acquired the image of a Black Virgin previously venerated in a nearby chapel.

The church was a cathedral for a day in 1570. Jacques d'Eltz 2 was indeed celebrating the marriage of the King of France, Charles IX, to Elizabeth of Austria. In order for the royal wedding to take place, the building had to be crowned a cathedral, which happened on that day.

The building is listed as a monument and is a masterpiece of the flamboyant Gothic . The main portal and the tower break with the Gothic style to adopt a Renaissance style, recognizable by the vaulted roof and the vault. The bell tower was built in the 19th century. The south portal is particularly opulent.

The original stained glass windows disappeared during bombings in 1815, 1870 and 1918. Today, the basilica has an exceptional collection of contemporary stained glass windows created by René Dürrbach, a friend of Picasso, between 1954 and 1979. Over a period of 25 years, this artist created a colossus of 68 stained glass windows , the only one of its kind in Europe. The old "Black Madonna" and the "Virgin of Light" refer to the universal symbolism of colours, shapes and numbers, inspired by his collaboration with Henri Giriat.

Since 2018 , the former sacristy of the building has housed the Treasury of Sacred Art of the Ardennes, which houses some fifty masterpieces (ancient statues, precious reliquaries, etc.) previously hidden from public view.

Willem Vandenameele