The Sacré-Cœur church is located in the commune of Audincourt, in Doubs, a few kilometers southeast of Montbéliard.
It was built from 1949 to 1951 to serve a newly created parish within a neighborhood designed to accommodate employees of booming automobile factories.
The priest Louis Prenel is at the origin of the construction, the plans of which were produced by the architect Maurice Novarina. Volunteer workers participated in the project, financed by donations.
The contemporary style of the church is, however, coupled with Byzantine inspiration. The building where reinforced concrete and stone combine harmoniously is composed of a rectangular nave which ends in a semi-circular apse, which surmounts a crypt. The high quadrangular bell tower and the baptistery are both outside the work and frame the nave each on one side.
Renowned artists participated in the creation of the decorations, which make the church a true museum of sacred art. Jean Bazaine designed an abstract mosaic at the entrance and the stained glass window of the baptistery. This was then created by the master glassmaker Jean Barillet, who also created the stained glass windows of the nave and the choir, made of glass slabs, designed by Fernand Léger and which evoke the theme of the Passion.
The church finally surprises with its wooden vaulted roof.
Listed in the Inventory, the site which reflects the hopes, particularly spiritual and pacifist, of the post-war working world, is certainly worth a visit.
Information on +33 3 81 36 37 38.