Attractions and Places To See around Guignicourt-Sur-Vence - Top 20

The original stained glass windows disappeared during bombings in 1815, 1870 and 1918. Today the basilica has an exceptional collection of contemporary stained glass windows, created between 1954 and 1979 by René Dürrbach, a friend of Picasso. Over 25 years, this artist has created a colossal set of 68 stained glass windows, unique in Europe, which honor the former 'Black Virgin' and the 'Virgin of Light' by referring to the universal symbols of colors, shapes and numbers, inspired through his collaboration with Henri Giriat. Since 2018, the former sacristy of the church has housed the Trésor d'art sacré des Ardennes, which contains around fifty masterpieces (ancient statues, precious relics, etc.) that were previously inaccessible to the public.

The construction of the Basilica of Notre-Dame-d'Espérance took more than a century between 1499 and 1615. The work was interrupted several times, for example during the siege of Mézières in 1521. The building is listed as a monument and is a masterpiece of the flamboyant gothic. However, the main portal and the tower break with the Gothic style and are built in Renaissance style, recognizable by the round arch and the coffers in the vault. The bell tower was built in the 19th century. The south portal is particularly opulent. King Charles IX and Elisabeth of Austria, grandniece of Charles V, entered through this door in 1570 for their wedding ceremony, even though the construction of the church had not yet been completed. The choice of Méeières had a strong symbolic value: reconciliation could be achieved through this strategic alliance.

Attention here is drawn to the mechanical giant - Grand Marionnettiste - located between the Musée de l'Ardenne and the Institut International de Marionnette. This mechanical clock plays an excerpt from the Ardennes legend of the Four Heemskinderen every hour between 10:00 and 21:00.

The statue of Carlo Gonzaga is the work of Alphonse Colle, from Charleville, who also created the monuments to the fallen of Charleville and Mézières. The fountain was first built on Place Ducale in 1899 at the initiative of a wealthy patron of the Industrial Revolution and then moved to its current location in 1999.

The Documentation Center of the Institut International de la Marionnette houses the largest specialized collection on puppetry in Europe. There is something for everyone interested in this art form. Triggered? More info at https://www.charleville-sedan-tourisme.fr/nl/fiches/nl-listing-arts-et-artisanat/internationaal-marionetten-instituut/

The Flize metal bridge is an emblematic site of the First World War. In 1914, in order to limit the advance of German troops, the French mined it. In 1916, the Germans began its reconstruction, carried out mainly by Russian and Italian prisoners of war held in a work camp. Many soldiers died in these places. The Green Bridge, as Flize residents affectionately call it, was built in 1906 to provide access to the Flize steel factory. It allowed the transport by rail of the raw materials the factory needed and the departure of manufactured steel throughout Europe.

Be sure to make time to admire the church treasure. Treasure of Sacred Art of the Ardennes The Treasury, inaugurated in July 2018 and the result of a long inventory and selection process, presents ancient statues, precious relics, gilded chalices, proven chasubles and paintings in a modern museum space in the Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Hope. These extraordinary objects offer a panorama of religious art from the 13th to the 19th century in the Ardennes, testifying to the know-how of craftsmen and popular devotion.

Construction of the basilica began in 1499 and lasted 120 years, reusing the foundations and certain elements of the primitive Romanesque church. It was established as a basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1946. In a late flamboyant Gothic style of great unity, this building amazes with its twenty-one cornerstone vaults, its beautiful stained glass windows covering an area of 1000 m² and its completely mechanical organ made in the classical style of Northern European.