Photo : Mattana / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Abbatiale Notre-Dame de Mouzon
The abbey church of Notre-Dame de Mouzon, in the Ardennes, is a large 13th-century Gothic church, listed as a historic monument. It once stood within a Benedictine abbey and now dominates the town of Mouzon, on the Meuse.
Its main treasure is its organ, commissioned in 1723 from the organ builder Christophe Moucherel and completed in 1725. This Baroque instrument, whose case is protected, was restored in 1991 by the Italian organ builder Barthélemy Formentelli. It has four manuals, a pedalboard and forty-four stops, making it a remarkable organ for the region.
The association Présence de l'Abbatiale, founded in 1980, played a key role in the restoration and holds a series of organ recitals every summer. The church will appeal to lovers of religious architecture, music and the heritage of the Ardennes.
