17.12.08

Saint Serge de Radonège

It’s by pure chance that I discovered this charming little church, in a little oasis, hidden behind a normal street gate (93, rue de Crimée, Paris 19), normally impossible to find if you just pass by in the street; maybe thanks to the blogger instinct? The church, hidden by some (now naked) trees, is named after Saint Serge de Radonège (Sergius of Radonezh, Сергий Радонежский), a major Russian saint from the 14th century.

It was built in 1861 as a German Lutheran church, abandoned in the beginning of WW I. It was acquired by Parisian Russians in 1924 and became an orthodox church. The painted stairs were then added and was, as the interior, decorated in an orthodox style, imitating 16th century art.

The surrounding buildings obviously house the priests and other personnel and also an Institute of Orthodox Theology. There is also a small library. All is totally peaceful.
You can visit the interior of the church, but when I passed last week, there was some kind of symposium ongoing and I did not want to disturb by taking photos, so I “stole” a photo from the official website.


41 comments:

Virginia said...

"All is totally peaceful" . How lovely that you found this beautiful church tucked away. We leave it to you to find these out of the way places for all of us. Merci.
V
PS Feel free to comment all you like on my blog Friday since I rather took over here. Pardon!!!!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Great pictures Peter! Right when you say the blogger spirit!

Thanks for the write-up and pictures!

Cheers

Rakesh

Olivier said...

je suis sous le charme, elle est vraiment mignonne cette eglise orthodoxe, dommage qu'elle soit a l'abandon, mais ce n'est peut etre que provisoire. Une tres belle decouverte.

hpy said...

Isn't there one in the 17° also? You haven't showed it yet!
Celle-ci m'a fait penser à la Pagode, c'est drôle, ça n'a rien à voir.

lyliane six said...

Je connais! l'année dernière avec "notre caisse de retraite" j'ai fait une journée Russe dans Paris, j'ai visité cette église qui n'est pas à l'abandon du tout Olivier! j'en ai vu une autre aussi, qui a abrité le siège des petits chanteurs à la Croix de Bois, il faut que je retrouve son nom, toutes ces églises sont dans des passages privés, c'est pour cela que l'on ne les connaît pas.

claude said...

Je repasse ce tantôt !

alice said...

Il n'y a que toi pour faire de telles trouvailles! Je suis sous le charme...

Anonymous said...

bravo peter: bravo de nous avoir déniché cette merveille dans le grand Paris, bruyant et pollué. J'aime l'atmosphère qui se dégage de ce lieu et de ton reportage. Et j'ai remarqué même un sapin sur une des photos.

Ruth said...

You found a cozy nook there. I love painted wood, and the Russian style is wonderful. Hope you go back in the spring or summer and take more pics?

Unknown said...

This is truly amazing! What a fantastic building and interiors too!

Adam said...

Wow - I never knew that was there, and I must have passed by there a few times.

claude said...

C'est une vraie curiosité cette église. merci de nous la faire découvrir. Quand on regarde la première photo on est loin de penser que c'est à Paris, Je croyais que tu étais encore parti je ne sais où.

Anonymous said...

Tu repasses ton linge à toi tout seul, tu fais les carreaux de ton petit appart et tu ne te fais pas à manger ! Mais que manges-tu alors ???

SusuPetal said...

Oh, it's a church! At first I thought it was some kind of Moomin house! It could be, by the look of the outside.

Olivier said...

depart pour NYC, enfin (un an cela fait long),je passe pour te souhaite de bonnes fetes de fin d'année et a+

Gaëlle said...

Une bien jolie trouvaille une fois de plus ! C'est vrai que comme le dit Claude on ne se croirait pas du tout dan Paris.

Shammickite said...

What an amazing little treasure, tucked away where you would never expect to find it! Trust you, Peter, to discover this church and bring it to our attention via your oh so interesting blog pages.

Shionge said...

What a great discovery there Peter...so awesome :D It is still functioning well?

Anonymous said...

A nice "un-orthodox" building to find (excuse the pun). Did you notice if there were any connections with famous Russian Emigres of the early 20th century? I mention this becasue I was reminded of seeing Stravinsky and Diaghilev buried in the orthodox part of San Michele in Venice. It came as a bit of a surpise to me to realise that Stravinsky was Russian Orthodox - his modernism doesn't seem to match the faith, although why I think that I have no idea! And I don't know how devout he was. Curious too that he is buried in Venice - I guess he must have liked the idea but as far as I can make out he didn't have a big connection with Venice in comparison with USA, Paris and Switzerland where he spent extended periods.

Don't know why I'm rambling on like this about Stravinsky.... nice photos! Well done!

Cergie said...



Saint Serge ! C'est mon saint patron alors...
L'instinct du bloggueur ? Tous les blogs sont différents, heureusement, et certains bloggueurs n'auraient pas ni trouvé ni aimé ce lieu. Disons que blogguer développe les instincts enfouis profondément en soi.
C'est une magnifique trouvaille, tout à fait dépaysante et dans l'esprit de l'hiver sibérien que nous vivons même à Paris (j'aime bien que les saisons soient de vraies saisons).
Peter, tu nous fais (parfois) voyager et rêver, nous, parisiens et apparentés. Merci...

Je suis sûre que de ce comment tu ne vas retenir que "parfois"


Maxime said...

En voilà une magnifique découverte : une véritable église orthodoxe en plein Paris. Ce serait bien de revenir en prendre quelques photos un jour de neige, pour l'ambiance...

Michelle said...

Wow! That is an amazing church. Your pictures turned out really beautiful. I hope to go there someday, maybe when my children are older.

Thérèse said...

Saint Serge qui a fait l'unité entre l'armée et l'église.
Superbe trouvaille Peter.

CeciliaGallerani said...

I, too, would never have thought this was Paris. That style of woodwork always transports me back to childhood, when it was my fairy-story ideal. I should be more brave about peeking through gates.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Mais quelle merveille tu nous as trouvé là, Peter !

Quand tu as dit que tu l'avais trouvé "hidden behind a normal street gate" j'ai cru que c'était un de ces endroits fermés à clé que tu avais réussi à te faire ouvrir spécialement grâce à ton charme suédois, mais apparemment pas ?

Moi aussi j'adore le bois peint et ça c'est un vrai petit bijou... Encore un endroit où il faudra que tu m'emmènes quand je passerai à Paris. So much to see, so little time...

Rhi said...

Haha I thought you'd like the 'scrap' award a bit better than the 'butterfly' one. And I'm not quite sure how you feel about awards, but if you do end up posting the "honest scrap," I can not wait to hear 10 things about you. I find your pictures so fascinating; I love visiting your blog to 'discover' what new things you have to share with us. Thanks again. =)

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hello Peter,\As I am used from you this is again a wonderfull post from Paris by your hand and eyes, great to see the interior, good that you are such a quith person..

As I said before but now its final today I posted my last BLOG post (see blog), we leave for a short Christmasholiday, wishing you a MERRY christmas my friend!

www.joannwalraven.blogspot.com
Greetings from JoAnn/Holland

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
I will try to find a few new ones before your next visit!

Rakesh:
The blogger spirit is important!

Olivier:
L'église n'est pas abandonée! Quelques immeubles sont un peu fatigués.

PeterParis said...

HPY:
I will show it one of these days!

Lyliane:
Ca nous fait deux! + Alain qui était avec moi quand l'a découvert (je suis retourné).

Claude:
Je t'attends!

PeterParis said...

Alice:
Merci! Ca me fait plaisir!

Delphinium:
Paris est plein de petits coins tranquilles. Si tu viens, je te montre!

Ruth:
I may go back, but then the trees will probably hide the church!

PeterParis said...

JM:
I can but agree!

Adam:
You must always look to the right and the left! :-)

Claude:
Merci de repasser (comme promis)!

PeterParis said...

La cuisinière:
Je mange quand' même, mais je n'aime pas trop faire la cuisine pour moi tout seul! Il me faut des invité(e)s ... ou le bistro!

SusuPetal:
We are not in Finland! :-)

Olivier:
NYC: Quelle chance! Bonnes fêtes!

PeterParis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PeterParis said...

Bleeding Orange:
Merci!! ... et pourtant!

Shammickite:
A little treasure, indeed!

Richard:
Yes, definitely linked to the local Rusian colony after the Russian revolution.

Another Richard (Wagner) died in Venice, but is not buried there.

Wikipedia: "Stravinsky had long had a special relationship with the city of Venice and the prestigious Venice Biennale International Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1925, he performed his Piano Sonata there and in 1934, conducted his Capriccio with his son as soloist, both as parts of the festival.[citation needed] In 1951, his opera The Rake's Progress, one of his last neoclassical works, was a dominating feature of the festival."

Diaghilev died in Venice. (He admired a lot Strainsky's works.)

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
Parfois? :-)))

Maxime:
Tu m'envoies un peu de neige?

Michelle:
Paris is welcoming you any time!

PeterParis said...

Therese:
L'unité entre l'armée et l'église, en effet, contree l'invasion des Tatars. Sinon, l'unité entre église et l'armée n'est peut-être pas trop souhaitable?

mkhansen:
Be brave!

Nathalie:
I will bring you there, with pleasure!

PeterParis said...

Rhi:
Thanks for the award, but I will not publish the ten "things" here! Maybe in a "private mail"?

JoAnn:
Best wishes for Xmas and the New Year alos to you!

Neva said...

It is a lovely little church and so colorful! You must walk the streets of Paris a lot!

PeterParis said...

Neva:
Yes, I walk a lot ... and sometimes the metro, sometimes my small electric motor bike...

joanna said...

Peter:

Beautiful old church happy you got a second chance to photography the interior in June 2010

Joanny

Thérèse said...

Ah oui je me souviens maintenant d'avoir lu ce billet mais la memoire me fait defaut.