Église de l’Assomption

Dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the church in Gemeaux was built in the 13th century and then modified in the 15th century to make it a place of defence. All that remains today is the prison tower at the corner of the ruelle des Tanneries and the place de l'Église.
The interior of the church contains some interesting architectural features, including a 15th-century wall tabernacle, a Baroque altar (from the Collège des Godrans in Dijon) and wall paintings. The most beautiful depicts Saint-Vincent, patron saint of winegrowers, and recalls the importance of the vine in Gemeaux before phylloxera.
The arches at the entrance to rue Gemelot date from the 19th century. At the start of the rue de la Maison commune, there is a small square tower with a beautiful Renaissance door.
The pink marble Baroque altar comes from the theology room of the Collège des Godrans, which was disused in the 18th century. It was installed in the church at Gemeaux in March 1769. Its unusual size and construction gave rise to the legend that the carriage carrying it from Dijon to Langres, exhausted, worn out and in poor condition, was unable to continue its journey. The altar was then taken to Gemeaux. But the reality is more banal: the church needed a new altar and the aldermen found it very beautiful, so they bought it.
In 2007, it was discovered that the base of one of the vaults was coming loose and that the whole thing was in danger of falling down. In November of that year, some members of the Arpege association dismantled the baldachin, which was then stored in the sacristy. The first steps taken to conserve the canopy were to treat it with insecticide and glue some of the parts back together, but an attempt to reassemble it in the rough showed that the association was not sufficiently equipped to carry out this kind of work. The baldachin was therefore stored in the sacristy until better days.
Restoration work was carried out in 2021 and the baldachin was reinstalled in January 2022.
Free guided tours of the church are organised every Tuesday during the summer, by reservation only: 03 80 95 24 03