Church of St. Joseph, Annemasse

About 10 kilometres east of Geneve is Annemasse, at the French side of the border. Here is Bellots last designed French church

Plans and drawings were made in 1937 and 1938. The church was build from 1939 until 1947.

The exterior of the church is natural stone, the roof has slate in mosaic pattern, as shown in the pictures. The tower has a temporarily top, which will probably not be replaced anymore by the one originally intended.

In the middle of the church is a huge dome, with a short nave an a short sanctuary. The transepts are even shorter. The sanctuary has a round wall, very unusual in the work of Bellot. The sacristy is in the middle of the wall behind the sanctuary, also a particularity in this work.

south transept	sanctuary with sacristy
interior of the dome

The interior is made from concrete. Most concrete arches of Bellot are angular but these arches are unusually parabolic. There are no columns in the church to support the roof. All the walls are white-yellowish and the church looks very bold, not colourfull. The interior is unusual for Bellots churches.

The sanctuary looks redesigned.

interior towards sanctuary
	the nave
redesigned sanctuary with hidden door to the sacristy

photo’s: A.W.A. Lukassen and A.A. Lukassen, July 2009