★★★★★ 5.0
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Paroisse Saint-Paul Saint-Louis
The year is 1627, and King Louis XIII is kneeling right here on Rue Saint-Antoine, laying the very first stone of what would become Paris's first ever Jesuit church! This Baroque beauty completely ditched the old Gothic style - totally revolutionary! Inside, you'll find holy water fonts that Victor Hugo himself donated after his daughter got married here in 1843. Even cooler? That shiny white altar is made from pieces of Napoleon's actual tomb, and there's still readable graffiti from an 1871 rebel on the right pillar!
Did You Know?
- Cardinal Richelieu, a towering figure in French history, personally presided over the church’s first Mass in 1641 with great pomp, attended by King Louis XIII, his court, and 15 bishops—marking the church as a site of significant royal and ecclesiastical ceremony during Paris’s golden age.
- Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis was the first church in Paris to fully embrace the Baroque architectural style, breaking away from the Gothic tradition that had dominated the city’s religious buildings; its innovative design by Jesuit architects set a new standard for church architecture in the capital.
- During the French Revolution, the church was temporarily converted into a secular temple and used as a storehouse, with many of its treasures lost or destroyed; despite this, it survived the era’s turmoil and was later meticulously restored, including a major 19th-century renovation by architect Victor Baltard and a comprehensive refurbishment in 2012 that preserved its original splendor.