Église Saint-Aybert de Bléharies

At the heart of Henry Lacoste's post-First World War reconstruction scheme for Bléharies, the church of Saint-Aybert was built to the architect's design of 1924 and blessed on 16 October 1926. Dominated by an imposing campanile with an octagonal spire, it has a massive brick-and-stone envelope, lightened by glazed stoneware reliefs by the sculptor Paul Petit. Inside, the single nave is covered by reinforced-concrete diaphragm arches designed by the Hennebique office, with stained glass by Paul Leclerc and furnishings also made of concrete. At once stripped-back and highly decorative, the whole reflects the liturgical renewal initiated by Dom Lambert Beauduin.

Translated from the French original.