Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
| Church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Paris |
| Country | France |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Website | spsl.fr |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Church of Saint Paul |
| Consecrated | 9 May 1641 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Étienne Martellange and François Derand |
| Groundbreaking | 1627 |
| Completed | 1641 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Paris |
Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis is a church on rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais quarter of Paris. The present building was constructed from 1627 to 1641 by the Jesuit architects Étienne Martellange and François Derand, on the orders of Louis XIII of France. Next door to it is the Lycée Charlemagne, also founded by the Jesuits. It gives its name to Place Saint-Paul and its nearest Metro station, Saint-Paul.
The first church on the site was dedicated around 1125 to Paul the Hermit, who had been buried in the Egyptian desert by Anthony the Great - it was in effect the cemetery chapel to the monastery of Saint-Éloi, founded by monks of saint Eloi of Noyon and Dagobert I. This monastery was on the site of what is now the parvise of the Palais de Justice. From there, bodies were carried in procession from the monastic community to the cemetery. Madame de Sévigné was baptised in this building in 1626, in the first chapel of Saint-Louis. The monastic cemetery was later forgotten, though the church retained a dedication to a saint Paul (albeit Paul of Tarsus not Paul of Thebes) up to the present day.
The first stone of the present building was laid by Louis XIII in 1627 for the Jesuits in the same street as the old chapel of St Paul. Its first name was 'église Saint-Louis de la maison professe des Jésuites', in reference to the Maison Professe des Jésuites attached to it.
Its design included traditional French elements as well as others inspired by Italy. In effect, as André Chastel put it "the Jesuit order, even while recommending certain aspects, as attentive to local traditions". Also, it can easily be compared to the Gesu in Rome, though it is longer and wider than that church. Its plan is a compromise between the Gesu's single nave flanked by side chapels and the traditional French cruciform plan, as is to be seen in its long transepts. The tall windows in these prominent transepts and the short eastern apse allow in large amounts of light and the dome under the crossing also recalls Italian architecture of a slightly earlier period, such as that of Carlo Maderno. In contrast, the high proportions (the dome is 55 metres high) are more comparable to French Gothic architecture.
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Wikipedia