During your short stay in Châtel-sur-Moselle, you cannot miss the church of Saint Laurent des Trois Rivières, which simple and harmonious shape dominates the upper parts of the village. This church overlooks the Town Hall square which is only a few steps from the fortress and the Moselle River.
The thin high steeple is set on an elegant round tower. Walk up the steps to the south of the church to find the entrance, where two identical doors are overlooked by a vaulted porch with gothic mouldings.
Let’s visit the inside!
Inside, enjoy an airy space with 10 metre-high vaults, simple but refined. The nave is spacious and surrounded by pillars, with octagonal bases which in going upwards turn into cylinders thanks to two superimposed tori. In the middle of the church, you have a lateral view of the building and discover that, from one pillar to the other, a moulded archway rises to capture the outside light. The latter crosses the high windows with bright and flamboyant orange tinted motifs.
Look up at the vaults and ribs intertwining and evoking a graceful palm tree. At the end of the church, in the five-sided Choir, a star-shape vault with seven branches, emblem of the star of the Three Wise Kings, is depicted on the ceiling. All these vaults eventually fall back on the columns and pillars, which dot the church of Saint Laurent des Trois Rivières.
The furniture has no great artistic value but there are many nooks which are illuminated by the large red and orange stained glass windows revealing to your eyes statues dating back to the 16th century, including the Vierge de la Pitié (Virgin of the Pietà) which is classified as an item of Historic Interest.
As you leave, do not miss the two columns sculpted with characters at their base which evoke, once again, the new flamboyant Gothic style.
