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# Demolition of the Church of Saint Martin in Sablé-sur-Sarthe for a car park began on 17 July
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/moia-ulitsa/
- Published: 2017-07-20T07:50:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:52:21.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Architecture, Faith, Observations, Heritage, Society

My Street. France

On 17 July, demolition began of the church of Saint Martin in the French commune of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, built in 1880-86\. The deconstruction is due to be completed by the end of July. For several years now the church building has been in a state of complete decay. It is believed that engineering errors were made during construction, as a result of which the building began to fall apart quickly and required constant shoring up.

Services in the church ceased in 1970\. All that time the municipality kept the structure propped up, but in 2015 the church was finally abandoned. For the last two years the commune has been engaged in a lively debate about the fate of the building; in the end it proved to be, most conveniently, in the path of an urban improvement programme, and it was decided without much hesitation to pull the church down. And to build a car park for 15 vehicles in its place! The builders say that the limestone walls are extremely fragile and collapse with hardly any effort. So far the roof, the pediment and part of the façade have been broken up, and the rest is to be demolished next week.

I can imagine the reaction of the public had a story of pulling down a nineteenth-century church for the sake of urban paving unfolded in Russia, and I can even hear the approximate slogans of the human rights campaigners and activists... What is there to say? In the first place, one cannot but rejoice that our civil society is genuinely on the rise and reacts keenly to many irritants; that is a very good sign. But, on the other hand, we often colour ordinary events far too emotionally, events that call for nothing of the kind and happen not because those in power are all fools and scoundrels, but, for example, because it is better and more convenient for everyone.

In Sablé-sur-Sarthe they assessed pragmatically what it costs to keep the church standing and what its possible reconstruction would cost: the projected cost is from 180 thousand to a quarter of a million euros. Demolition and waste disposal come out cheaper, at a little over 100 thousand.