Page 52 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

50  INTRODUCING P ARIS

Exploring Paris’s Places
of Worship

Some of Paris’s finest architecture is reflected in the places
of worship. The great era of church building was the medieval
period but examples survive from all ages. During the
Revolution (see pp32–3) churches were used as grain or
weapons stores but were later restored to their former glory.
Many have superb interiors with fine paintings and sculptures.

who added the transepts with
their fine translucent rose
windows. Montreuil’s master- Façade of Chapelle de la Sorbonne
piece is Louis IX’s medieval
palace chapel, Sainte-Chapelle,
with its two-tier structure. It was Baroque and Classical
built to house Christ’s Crown of Churches and convents
Thorns. Other surviving churches flourished in Paris during the
in Paris are St-Germain-des- 17th century, as the city
Prés, the oldest surviving abbey expanded under Louis XIII and
church in Paris (1050); the tiny, his son Louis XIV. The Italian
rustic Romanesque St-Julien- Baroque style was first seen on
le-Pauvre; and the Flamboyant the majestic front of St-Gervais–
Gothic St-Séverin, St-Germain St-Protais, built by Salomon de
l’Auxerrois and St-Merry. Brosse in 1616. The style was
toned down to suit French
tastes and the rational
Renaissance
Tower of St-Germain-des-Prés temperament of the Age of
The effect of the Italian Enlightenment (see pp30–31).
Renaissance swept through Paris The result was a harmonious
Medieval in the 16th century. It led to a and monumental Classicism in
Both the pointed arch and the unique architectural style in the form of columns and domes.
rose window were born in a which fine Classical detail and One example is the distinctive
suburb north of Paris at the immense Gothic proportions Chapelle de la Sorbonne,
Basilique-Cathédrale de St-Denis, resulted in the attractive “French completed by Jacques
where most of the French kings Renaissance” style. The best Lemercier in 1642 for
and queens are buried. This was example in Paris is Cardinal Richelieu.
the first Gothic building, and it St-Etienne-du-Mont, Grander and more
was from here that the Gothic whose interior has the richly decorated, with a
style spread. The finest Gothic feel of a wide and light painted dome, is the
church in Paris is the city basilica. Another is church built by
cathedral, Notre-Dame, tallest St-Eustache, François Mansart to
and most impressive of the early the massive market honour the birth of the
French cathedrals. Begun in 1163 church in Les Halles, Sun King at the Val-de-
by Bishop Maurice de Sully, it and the nave of Grâce convent. The
was completed over the next St-Gervais–St-Protais true gem of the period
century by architects Jean de with its stained glass is Jules Hardouin-
Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil, and carved choir stalls. St-Gervais–St-Protais Mansart’s Dôme des

Towers, Domes and Spires
Tour St-Etienne-
Paris’s many churches have dominated her skyline since early St-Jacques du-Mont
Christian times. The Gothic Tour St-Jacques, the only element
still extant from a long-gone church, reflects the medieval
love of the defensive tower. St-Etienne-du-Mont, with its
pointed gable and rounded pediment, shows the transition
from Gothic to Renaissance. The dome, a much-used feature
of the French Baroque, was used to perfection in the Val-de-
Grâce, while St-Sulpice with its severe arrangement of towers
and portico is typically Neo-Classical. With its ornate spires,
Ste-Clotilde is a Gothic Revival church. Modern landmarks
include the mosque, with its minaret. Gothic Renaissance

050-051_EW_Paris.indd 50 25/04/16 4:16 pm