inSPIREd Sunday

Sally and Beth host inSPIREd Sunday!  

April 2019 - Paris France

We found this church on our long walk back from L'Atelier des Lumieres.

The church Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis was originally dedicated to just one saint, St. Louis. In 1797 the church of Saint-Paul, located nearby in the rue St. Paul, was demolished and the two parishes were amalgamated. In 1802 the clock of the St. Paul church was placed into the facade of the St. Louis church, which was subsequently renamed in honor of both St. Paul and St. Louis.

When the Parlement de Paris suppressed the Jesuits in 1762, the building was reassigned to the canons of Sainte-Catherine-du-Val-des-Ecoliers. On 2 September 1792, 5 priests were killed in the church during the September Massacres, The church was also converted to the Cult of Reason and the Supreme Being during the French Revolution, before being restored to Catholicism in 1802 due to the Concordat of 1801.

Construction of the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis started in 1627, when King Louis XIII laid the first stone. Just fifteen years later, in 1641, the church was dedicated by cardinal Richelieu.
The church was built at the Rue St. Antoine, one of the old Roman roads in Paris and a main artery in the Marais.

The large octagonal dome was a first in Paris and it would serve as inspiration for other structures, such as the Sorbonne chapel.

The interior is the work of friar Charles Turmel. The church used to hold some beautiful artwork and precious relics including the hearts of King Louis XIII and King Louis XIV, but those were all destroyed or removed during the revolution.

The salient feature of the church is a 195-foot dome, which is best viewed from the inside because the columns of the three-tiered church’s front elevation hide the dome. The church is designed marvelously with clean classical architectural lines that run through the nave and side aisles. Arches have been embellished with astounding Baroque decorations, while sculptures have been posed and paintings been drawn in the style liked by the Jesuits in the 17th century.

On 15 February 1843, Léopoldine Hugo secretly married Charles Vacquerie in the church; her father Victor Hugo offered the church two clam-shell holy water holders to mark the occasion.