Heritage, visit, Religious heritage in Rueil Malmaison

Religious heritage

It is the first parish established in Rueil, placed under the protection of both apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It most probably dates back to the 8th Century.
There is proof that a church already existed here in the 12th Century which has been destroyed by the ‘Hundred Years War’ and the English occupation in the 15th Century. At the end of this bleak period a new church had to be built.
It will however keep its original steeple till the middle of the 19th Century. Dangerously damaged, it will be re-built in its initial roman style.

It is in 1633 that Cardinal de Richelieu settles in Rueil, at the Chateau du Val, that has disappeared. He then entrusted his own architect Jacques Lemercier, with the construction of the façade of the church.

The church shelters the tombs of Empress Josephine and Queen Hortense, her daughter.
When Empress Josephine suddenly died in 1814, no vault had yet been prepared and her body was laid in the basement of the presbytery while waiting for the building of a proper tomb. It is made of Carrara marble and has been completed in 1825. It is surmonted by a statue of the Empress, the work of a sculptor called Cartellier.
She is shown kneeling thus reminding, according to the wish of her two children Prince Eugene and Queen Hortense, the famous painting by David entitled ‘Le Sacre’ – the coronation

There is also, the Carrara marble cenotaph of Queen Hortense ordered in 1858 by her son, Napoleon III.

A superb organ case towers up that was offered by Napoleon III and signed by Baccio d’Agnolo together with the very beautiful gilded bronze bas relief of the high altar dating back to the 17th Century and created by François Anguier for the church of the Val de Grace in Paris.
The Saint Peter – Saint Paul Church is also listed ‘Historic Building’.