Saint Etienne du Mont
| Opposite the Jardin du
Luxembourg is the Rue Soufflot, named after the architect of the
Panthéon, the big building at the end of it. To the right of the
Panthéon is the church of St.-Étienne-du-Mont.
Once upon a time there was a simple little village girl who saved Paris from Attila the Hun, converted the Frankish King Clovis and became a Saint. Her name was Geneviève, and she is the Patron Saint of Paris. A church dedicated to her was built here, on top of the highest hill on the Left Bank. In the eighteenth century it was decided to build her a really big and impressive church. This was completed, and Geneviève’s tomb moved in, just in time for the revolution, which deconsecrated the church, blocked up the windows and turned it into a Pantheon – a place where the bodies of great men are buried. So the Patron Saint of Paris has no church in Paris. Geneviève’s body was burned, though somebody saved a bit of the coffin. This is still kept in St.-Étienne-du-Mont, my favourite Paris church. I haven’t yet managed to think of an architectural style it hasn’t got. It also has the only rood-screen left in Paris, a highly-carved marble Gothic structure separating the nave from the choir. In the old cloister are some lovely primitive medieval windows. Don’t miss it. |
