From the outside, the Saint-Joseph church, with its red bricks and angular walls, blends into the working-class Alma district, in Roubaix (North), where the town hall is carrying out a strong action of urban renewal. It is spotted by its spire, which rises to 50 meters and seems to compete with the chimneys of the factories in this industrial sector of the Lille metropolis. But when you push the door of the neo-Gothic building, the contrast is striking. From floor to ceiling, not a square centimeter of column or wall has escaped the brushes and tools of craftsmen, who, in a profusion of gold and colors, vividly translated scenes from the biblical universe and the life of the patron saint of craftsmen. “Nowhere else in the region can you do a homily or an illustrated catechesis as can be done here, simply by inviting the audience to turn or raise their heads, enthuses Father Antonio Polito, priest of Saint Joseph. Not everyone has time to read the Bible. There, the essentials of the Gospels are within everyone’s reach! “
Not a square centimeter of column or wall has escaped the brushes and tools of craftsmen
Since April 18, the parish priest has been able to resume his place on Sunday in front of the faithful gathered – in compliance with sanitary rules – under the nave of the church, refurbished after six years of work. We owe this jewel of the end of the XIXe century to Baron Jean-Baptiste Béthune (1821-1894), nicknamed “the Viollet-le-Duc des Flandres”. The building, degraded by bad weather, dry rot (fungus attacking wood) and lack of maintenance, had come close to demolition in the 1980s. Before a mobilization of Roubaisiens, relayed by local authorities and the State , lead, in 1994, to the classification of the church with the historical monuments. And that a rehabilitation project, for a budget of 8 million euros, be launched. The site was mainly financed by the city, owner of the place, a collection from the heads of local companies which made it possible to raise 600,000 euros.
Without a porch, the church opens its doors directly onto the street. “At the time, you had to be discreet when you went there, so as not to be spotted by the trade unions, which were very anti-clerical”, underlines François Vergin, organizer of architecture and heritage of the city of Roubaix, inexhaustible on the history of the worker and textile city. An industrial specialty which made the wealth of the city at the end of the 19th centurye century and which imposes itself in an unexpected way as soon as one enters the church, whose construction was financed by the rich families of weavers: the columns, built in blue stone, are decorated with friezes reminiscent of ribbons or braids , the walls bordering the choir are adorned with jacquard patterns that would look great on double curtains and the statues wear perfectly draped outfits. “Like a catalog of the know-how of workers in the region”, emphasizes François Vergin. The building had been delivered in 1878, “in the rough”. The richly decorated stained-glass windows were installed around 1880. It was not until 1890 that the walls, floors and columns were covered with mosaics and frescoes by the Dutch painter Jan Willem Deumens (1843 -1909).
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