Church sights in Paris
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A
Église St-Sulpice
Lined with 21 side chapels inside, the Italianate Church of St-Sulpicius was built between 1646 and 1780. The facade, designed by a Florentine architect, has two rows of superimposed columns and is topped by two towers. The neoclassical décor of the vast interior is influenced by the Counter-Reformation.
The frescos in the Chapelle des Sts-Anges (Chapel of the Holy Angels), first to the right as you enter, depict Jacob wrestling with the angel (to the left) and Michael the Archangel doing battle with Satan (to the right) and were painted by Eugène Delacroix between 1855 and 1861.
The monumental 20m-tall organ loft dates from 1781. Listen to it in its full glory during 1…
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B
Église St-Eustache
One of the most beautiful churches in Paris and consecrated to an early Roman martyr who is the patron saint of hunters, this majestic church is just north of the gardens above the Forum des Halles. Constructed between 1532 and 1637, St-Eustache is primarily Gothic, though a neoclassical facade was added on the western side in the mid-18th century. Inside, there are some exceptional Flamboyant Gothic arches holding up the ceiling of the chancel, although most of the interior ornamentation is Renaissance and even classical. The gargantuan organ above the west entrance, with 101 stops and 8000 pipes, is used for concerts (long a tradition here) and during Sunday Mass (11am …
reviewed
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C
Église St-Germain des Prés
Paris’ oldest church, the Romanesque Church of St-Germanus of the Fields, was built in the 11th century on the site of a 6th-century abbey and was the dominant church in Paris until the arrival of Notre Dame.
It has since been altered many times, but the Chapelle de St-Symphorien, to the right as you enter, was part of the original abbey and is the final resting place of St Germanus (AD 496–576), the first bishop of Paris. The bell tower over the western entrance has changed little since 990, although the spire only dates from the 19th century.
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