Restoring religious heritage challenges small communes with limited budgets in northern France. In Oost-Cappel, near Dunkerque, Mayor Stéphanie Porreye has prioritized work on Saint-Nicolas church, closed for degradation in 2023. Through sheer determination, funding has been secured despite a 1.5 million euro cost.
In northern France, preserving churches poses a key challenge for village mayors ahead of the March 2026 municipal elections. These buildings, often the only heritage sites, fall under communal responsibility since the 1905 law for pre-1905 constructions. Around 40,000 churches were recorded in France in 2025.
In Oost-Cappel, a village of 480 residents near Dunkerque, Saint-Nicolas church exemplifies the issue. Set in the middle of the cemetery, it combines 12th-century weathered bricks with red ones from a partial reconstruction after a late 17th-century fire. Closed in December 2023 for safety reasons, works resumed in December 2024.
Stéphanie Porreye, 52, elected mayor without label in 2020, made it her first mandate's priority. “During the last funeral ceremony, plaster was falling on people. It was raining inside the church, water infiltrating through the roof. It was no longer possible,” she explains. With an annual communal budget of 300,000 euros, the 1.5 million euro project demands remarkable tenacity.
Similar efforts occur in Limont-Fontaine and Gognies-Chaussée, where officials have secured necessary funding through will and perseverance, placing the church back at the village's heart.