La Hérie Église Saint-Pierre
Église Saint-Pierre La Hérie
Where to find this church
Church Information
Église Saint-Pierre is located in La Hérie, a small village with 129 inhabitants in the Département Aisne about 6 km south-west of the town of Hirson in the Département Aisne in the région Hauts-de-France.
A key is available from the Mairie (see below)
This church was listed as a historical monument in 1989
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Visiting Église Saint-Pierre
What is now the nave is a rectangular building with very thick walls, flanked by two diagonally arranged round towers, now shortened. One tower is to the left of the door, the other serves as a sacristy.
The 1st floor is reached by a very narrow, straight staircase set into a thick wall.
The first floor is provided with embrasures and weir cores. One projects over the choir, which was obviously added to the nave. On the three-part chancel is an inscription: AB 1687.
Further evidence of the later character of the choir is that the passage connecting the nave to the choir is particularly narrow (about 3 metres).
If one disregards the choir, which was added later, the present church does not belong to religious, but to purely military architecture.
Another indication that supports the above thesis: the neighbouring village of Eparcy (which, like La Hérie, was subject to the abbey of Foigny) definitely had a “fort” that was converted into a church; however, this no longer exists today.
The church is normally locked, but you can get a key during the opening hours of the Mairie (see tourism page, link above).
This allowed us to visit the inside of the church during our Easter 2024 tour.