COLLEGIATE NOTRE-DAME DE L'ASSOMPTION

Écouis, a former county town and hunting ground for kings on their way to the Lyons forest, is now just a village, but it’s home to a jewel steeped in history. The collegiate church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, located in the heart of the village, celebrated its 700th anniversary in 2013! Dedicated to the Virgin Mary on September 9, 1313, it was built on the initiative of Enguerrand de Marigny, Philippe le Bel’s Minister of Finance at the time. Built on the highest point of the Vexin region, the edifice boasts an imposing façade, flanked by square towers, and a vast nave vaulted in stone and brick, with no aisles. Several kings of France stopped here, including Louis XI and Louis XII, and Notre-Dame de l’Assomption remained a collegiate church until the French Revolution. Today, it houses a collection of furniture and sculptures from the ^14th and ^15th centuries of exceptional quality. Don’t miss the beautiful statue of Marie l’Égyptienne, wearing only her long hair, or the statue of Notre-Dame d’Écouis that once adorned the building’s portal. The fourteen stained glass windows with their Marian iconography depict the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin Mary.