The influx of pilgrims led to the construction of this building in the 11th and 13th centuries, inspired by the early Gothic style, but already heralding a second generation through certain technical choices.

The relatively small size of the site, compared with the stone vessels of the great cathedrals, means that visitors can easily take in the entire church envelope, with differences in light intensity giving relief to the architectural elements and religious furnishings.

The presence of a recluse just a few meters from the abbatial's choir also bears witness to the diversity of religious life in the West at the time.

However, this same period was troubled by conflicts and invasions, notably in 882 by the Vikings, who went up the Meuse, ruining the city, devastating the ecclesiastical buildings, and provoking the departure of the nuns.

At the same time, there was a general trend towards enlarging church choirs to provide a more spacious setting for a liturgy called for greater pomp.

[7] Mouzon was the second-largest city in the diocese, ahead of Mézières, Rethel, Attigny, Rumigny, Épernay, etc.,[2] and the conversion of the abbatial churchchurch into a cathedral would have been a highly suitable solution.

To enlarge the existing church, the choir was demolished and rebuilt according to Parisian or Laonnais models, in the style that would later be called Primitive Gothic.

This second stage of construction of the present abbatial church continued until the middle of the 13th century, remaining in the same style and proportions as the choir.

In retrospect, such an initiative would have proved futile since 1940 shells fell on the abbatial church, shattering the existing windows and stained glass.

One shell damaged the rose window illuminating the southern part of the transept, and another tore through the vault, requiring some reparation.

[17] The nave, surrounded by two collaterals, gives itself up to the visitor's gaze as soon as he enters, with its three-story elevation, characteristic of the Primitive Gothic style.

[12][19] Five radiating chapels surround the choir and open onto a five-sided ambulatory, giving this part of the church a specific size.

[10] Despite the length of time between the beginning of the construction of the chevet and the choir and the end of the rebuilding of the transept and the nave, the style within the abbatial church is relatively homogeneous.

The portal's tympanum, dating from the 13th century, is composed of three levels of sculpted decoration, separated by wavy bands, evoking, in medieval symbolism, the sky.

In the middle, the crowning of the Virgin, an episode unknown in the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, but popular in the 12th and 13th centuries.

This scene, relatively new in religious iconography, can also be found in the sculpted decoration of the tympanums of the cathedrals of Chartres, Senlis, Paris, and Laon.

The figures no longer have the stiffness and hieraticism of the first Gothic works, even if the artist does not rank with the best sculptors of his time if there are still some clumsinesses in articulating the limbs, for example, and if the general inspiration needs more vigor.

[26] At the request of Prosper Mérimée, Inspector of Historical Monuments, a restoration project was presented by architect Émile Boeswillwald on 10 January 1855 on a building deeply weakened by the years.

In particular, a significant flamboyant skylight above the tympanum in the 15th century was replaced by four windows topped by a rosace, inspired by the north and south gables of the transept.

But he probably also yielded to the doctrine of stylistic unity dear to the school of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc by doing away with this fambloyant addition,[27] artificially accentuating the abbatial church's homogeneity.

"[28]The upper part of the wall on the north side of the building (in front of the monastery) was also rebuilt, as the seven high bays with their windows as well as the corresponding buttresses.

This cell, located in the north ambulatory, was intended for the use of a voluntary recluse, a person wishing to live in solitude a tête-à-tête with God, while being in the heart of the city.

This choice of lifestyle was not specific to Mouzon at that time, and, along with the hermits, was a familiar figure in European society, even if it had a lesser influence and a much more discreet trace in the written word than the great monastic communities.

The hexagonal bowl of the pulpit is decorated with finely carved rinceaux, and the four sides facing the nave depict the four Evangelists, standing, dressed in abundantly pleated cloaks, with their traditional symbolic attributes.

The abat-voix is adorned with small arched spandrels, fire pots linked by garlands and a pedestal surmounted by an angel wielding a trumpet.

[10][32] A crucifix (originally a calvary) stands out in the light from the tribune's axis bay, appearing above the altar, seemingly hovering in the canopy's draperies.

At this point in the gallery, on the upper floor, is a chapel, lit by five windows and dedicated to Saint Thomas of Canterbury, the object of popular and ecclesiastical veneration when the church was built.

When the instrument was finally delivered on 13 March 1719, he met Dom Amand Vincent, father organist at Mouzon Abbey, who was one of the experts.

[38][39] The decor is by sculptor Jacques Lemaire, including a Virgin and Child topping the central turret of the grand buffet, assisted by Stenay carpenter Henri Baillard.

[38] During the restoration of the abbatial churchchurch led by Boeswillwald, the organ was dismantled and placed on the brand-new stone tribune at the end of the nave.