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Saint-Augustin, Paris

Église Saint-Augustin de Paris
Eglise Saint Augustin de Paris.jpg
Église Saint-Augustin de Paris is located in Paris
Église Saint-Augustin de Paris
Église Saint-Augustin de Paris
48°52′34″N 2°19′8″E / 48.87611°N 2.31889°E / 48.87611; 2.31889Coordinates: 48°52′34″N 2°19′8″E / 48.87611°N 2.31889°E / 48.87611; 2.31889
Location 8th arrondissement of Paris
Country France
Denomination Catholic
Website saintaugustin.net
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Logo monument historique - rouge ombré, encadré.svg Monument Historique PA00088813
Designated 1993
Architect(s) Victor Baltard
Style Eclectic; Romano-Byzantine
Groundbreaking 1860
Completed 1868
Specifications
Length 300 feet (91 m)
Width 240 feet (73 m)
Dome height (outer) 200 feet (61 m)
Administration
Archdiocese Paris

The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris (Church of St. Augustine) is a Catholic church located at 46 boulevard Malesherbes in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The church was designed to provide a prominent vista at the end of the boulevard both of which were built during Haussmann's renovation of Paris under the Second French Empire. The closest métro station is Saint-Augustin Metro-M.svg Paris m 9 jms.svg

During the reign of Napoleon III in the 1850s and 60s Paris experienced a dramatic transformation under the direction of Georges-Eugène Haussmann. Haussmann cut many boulevards through the crowded, medieval city placing prominent public buildings at the boulevard ends to provide impressive vistas. The boulevard Malesherbes was laid out cutting northwest from La Madeleine. Saint-Augustin, close to the spot where Haussmann was born, was built to provide a counterpoint to the famous columns of La Madeleine at the other end of the boulevard. It was also designed to be visible from the Arc de Triomphe down the avenue de Friedland. The chosen site, an odd shaped lot at the intersection of four streets, and the need for a dome of 200 feet (61 m) so as to be visible from the Arc de Triomphe, dictated unusual proportions for the building. The church was designed by Haussmann's fellow Protestant, architect Victor Baltard who also famously designed Les Halles markets. While Baltard's use of iron in Saint-Augustin's structure is praised for its inventiveness, at least one critic has described the church as, "an eyesore: ridiculously sited, without proportion, crushed beneath an outsized dome." The neighborhood around the church is now one of the most expensive in Paris.


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Wikipedia

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