SAINT-JUVIN CHURCH

This magnificent building is one of the most beautiful models of a fortified church in the Argonne, which was once a border area between the Germanic Empire and the Kingdom of France. The church of Saint-Juvin was built between 1615 and 1624 by the inhabitants of the village, in times troubled by the wars of religion, according to the wishes of their parish priest Didier Mauclerc and the Count of Joyeuse. With its imposing walls, its turrets pierced with loopholes, its machicolations and its bretèches, this church has everything of a real fortress. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918, the American army attacked a line fortified by the Germans on the ridges of Saint-Juvin. The bombardments that followed destroyed part of the village and its church. Listed as a historical monument in 1920, the church of Saint-Juvin was rebuilt between 1931 and 1935, identically, except for its frame, originally made of wood, which is now reinforced concrete like that of the cathedral of Reims. It houses a beautiful stained glass window by Jacques Grüber, one of the leaders of Art Nouveau in Nancy. It shows the Juvin pig keeper, local saint, patron saint of the church.