Perfectly restored, the gilded copper rooster with gold leaf and the wrought iron cross, also gilded, regained their place at the end of last week at the top of the steeple of the Saint-Joseph-des-Nations church ( XIth), which rises to 50 meters. A spectacular operation since it took a crane to reinstall this 350 kilogram cross which had been removed in 2009 for safety reasons.
Mayor of the XIth arrondissement of Paris, François Vauglin (PS) sees in the success of this project a metaphor for the history of France: “What a joy to accompany towards the sky this cross which marks the religious character of the place and this Gallic rooster. and republican! Knowing that in France, religious buildings built before 1905 belong to the municipalities. “
A 2.8 million euros project
Assistant to Anne Hidalgo in charge of heritage, Karen Taïeb congratulated all the trades who “carried out this collective work while respecting, despite the confinement, the planned schedule of 28 to 30 months. Initially set at 2.5 million euros, the budget, despite the health measures, will not exceed 300,000 euros in additional costs. “
Pastor of the parish, Bernard Maes underlines the importance of the gilding of the cross “which could seem superfluous”. Except that this cross, “more than a religious sign, represents the intense love of the God of Christians”.
Passionate architect of this pharaonic project which began in January 2019 and is due to end next July, Elsa Ricaud readily quotes Eugène Viollet-le-Duc: “The slightest imperfection, when we have the sky as a background, shocks the eyes. less exercised ”. It thus expresses the delicacy of the restoration work on this church, built between 1866 and 1878 by Théodore Ballu, to whom we also owe the Town Hall.
Laying down the spire stone by stone, namely the pyramid that tops the bell tower, which had already been rebuilt in 1923, before rebuilding it, is not easy! “All the stones were joined together by iron clips which, rusting over the years, took on more volume and made the stone shatter,” explains Elsa Ricaud.
Place the belfry, bells and clocks
To build the new spire, 183 tons had to be hoisted, cut in Saint-Leu-d’Esserent (Oise). “Above all, no metal was used to arm the stone in its mass. A simple corset of stainless steel strapping was attached to the inner face of the boom, without continuous physical contact, ”explains Elsa Ricaud.
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Once again adorned with its arrow, its cross and its rooster, the bell tower of Saint-Joseph-des-Nations will benefit by July from the renovation of its belfry (wooden structure which bears the bells), from the revision the mechanism of its four original bells and the restoration of the dials of its enamelled lava clocks. Without forgetting the resumption of the decorations under the vaults of the porch and the upgrading of the square to allow access for disabled people.
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