Bells of Saint Gervais-les-Bains (F-74) - Parish Church of Saint Nicholas from Veroce - Angelus

Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce is a former commune of Haute-Savoie in the Val Montjoie between Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Les Contamines-Montjoie. Located about ten kilometers from the city center of Saint-Gervais, the commune of Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce was attached to the latter on December 29, 1973. The commune was made up of two districts (or village): that " d'en haut", the future commune of Contamines-Montjoie which obtained its autonomy in 1759, and the "district below" where the parish church is located. The oldest mention of the town is around 1344 in its form Cura de Verossia. The toponym of Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce is made up of the name of the saint of the parish Nicolas de Myre associated with the name Véroce, designating in its local form the green alder. This word most likely derives from the prelatin word voros.
The parish of Saint-Nicolas most likely dates back to the 9th century. The church is attested only in 1280, while assuming that it could be much earlier. It is linked to the abbey of Contamine-sur-Arve. However, it seems that the church received in the 11th century a relic of the saint, a wrist bone, which is enshrined in a reliquary arm, becoming a pole for the dissemination of the saint for Savoy The construction of the current building was undertaken from 1725 to 1729, within the framework of the religious reconstruction movement resulting from the Catholic Reformation. The bell tower, topped with a lantern and a bulb, dates from 1698. The church, built with local materials, is cruciform in plan with a projecting transept, a straight chevet, a nave with two unequal bays, without aisles, a choir of two bays, all covered with groin vaults and an octagonal dome over the crossing of the transept. The porch opens below a semicircular arch, flanked by columns topped with capitals. A serlian surmounts it. The top of the facade is crossed by a stucco entablature which develops a decorated frieze. Inside, the church is decorated with paintings made around 1751 and then 1856. The church has a painting on its vault, from the 19th century, with the subject of the apotheosis of Saint Nicolas, made by artists from Valsesia , Giuseppe Antonio and Lorenzo Avondo.
There are at least 2 bells. The big one sounds the note Re#3-4 and the little one FA3-2. Other characteristics completely unknown.
SOUNDS:
12h: 0:20
Angelus: 1:04
Interestingly, during the Angelus, unlike bells of others churches, the hammer blows 3-3-3 and the volley are rung on the same bell, the little one! Normally the hammer blows are sounded on the big one and the volley is done by the small one.
SOURCES AND LINKs OF INTEREST:
fr.wikipedia.o...
fr.wikipedia.o...
monumentum.fr/...
www.saintgerva...
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