Sacré-Coeur de Jésus
Grand Rue
6940 Barvaux-sur-Ourthe (Durbuy)
Church | 1730 | Neogothic | Roman Catholic Church
Map
Opening hours
01 January - 31 December
Mon -
Tue -
Wed -
Thu -
Fri -
Sat -
Sun 10.30 - 18.30
Description
Firstly, the chapel was erected as a perpetual vicariate in 1611 by order of Ernest of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Liège and Archbishop of Cologne, and was replaced by a larger church in 1730. Father Lambert de Sy had it built, having found the old chapel in ruins at the beginning of his ministry.
140 years later, a provincial architect found it in the same dilapidated state. Because, in addition to its advanced state of decay, the church of the parish priest de Sy was too narrow to accommodate all the Barvautan communicants (70% of the inhabitants), it was once again decided in the early 1870s to raze it to the ground and rebuild a third version of the sanctuary.
The current version of the Barvaux church, consecrated in 1878, is in the neo-gothic ogival style, in vogue at the end of the 19th century. It is the result of the tenacity of Father Gérard Lambert combined with the significant mobilisation of the population to raise the necessary funds for the work. In the terms of our time, we could speak of a real "crowdfunding" operation!
In addition to these 3 profound metamorphoses, the building has suffered various damages during its recent history. Following the French Revolution, the French "Sans-culottes" threw the "Christ des Bateliers" into the Ourthe; in 1944, by blowing up the nearby bridge, the Germans destroyed the stained-glass windows and window frames: finally, in January 1978, lightning struck the bell tower, which went up in smoke.
Today the church has some beautiful pieces in Russian red oak by the Liège sculptor Olivier Merveille (what remains is in fact the furniture he created in 1878 and which was sold in 1972), beautiful stained glass windows by Louis-Marie Londot, several tombstones which, like the baptismal font of 1608, come from the old church, or an interesting statuary, with a Pietà and a Christ on Calvary from the Mosane school dated 1520-1530. There are also some beautiful modern works of art.
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Photos
Remarkable elements
The Christ of the Boatmen
This is the piece to which the Barvautois are most attached. And for good reason, this 1.84 m high Christ was fished out of the Ourthe at the height of Tilff, several kilometres from the village. The "Sans-Culottes" had in fact taken the statue, placed at the time in the porch of the church, to throw it into the river. Dated hypothetically around 1700, it is attributed, without certainty, to the Mosane school.
The triptych of Desiro
The triptych by the contemporary artist Jean-Pol Désirotte, known as Desiro, a native of Barvaux, illustrates on one of its sides the famous story of the "Christ of the Boatmen". Until the 19th century, many Barvautois lived from the waterways. They ensured the transport of goods between Barvaux and Liège. Some of them saw a steep arm emerging from the water. Believing at first to have rescued a drowned man, they then recognised Christ from their church, which they triumphantly brought back to the village.
The chronogram on the façade
Above the main entrance door there is a commemorative inscription: "pie IesV, DVLCI CorDI tVo aeDIfICata fVI". It has a chronogram: adding the Roman numerals together gives the number 1876, which corresponds to the end of the construction of the church.
The "Pietà" Mosane
This statue of the Virgin holding the body of Christ in her lap dates from 1520-1530, as is the statue of Christ on Calvary or Christ in the Bonds. Both are well representative of the techniques and know-how of the Mosan school.
The 4 bells
For a long time, the bell tower of the church of Barvaux contained only 2 bells. It was a generous donor who financed the casting of these bells to obtain 3 new ones. To everyone's surprise, it was not 3 but 4 bells that were delivered in 1889. Still active, they continue to punctuate the days of the Barvautois. The biggest one gives the F, the 3 others give the G, the A and the C.
The stained glass windows
As in many churches in the region, the Namur native Louis-Marie Londot, a master of polychromic sacred art, influenced by Pop Art, left his mark on the windows of the choir of the church of Barvaux-sur-Ourthe.
