19.2.10

Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet


Immediate neighbour to “La Maison de la Mutualité” (see previous post) is a church called Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet. Preceded by other buildings, the present church was built between 1656 and 1763, more or less on a design by Charles Le Brun, the official Versailles painter. The front of the church is more recent, the square tower is older. To give space to the Boulevard Saint Germain, part of the backside was transformed by Baltard, the creator of the regretted “Les Halles” (see previous post).




The church is known to be the Parisian site for the traditionalist tendency of the Catholic Church, wishing a return to the pre-Vatican II practices, meaning e.g. mass in Latin and the non-separation of State and Church (separated in France since 1905). The church was in 1977 illegally occupied by members of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The occupation by the traditionalists, or integrists, has however been tolerated, although the priests involved were excommunicated. The present obviously more conservative pope has partly lifted these excommunications (Bishop Richard Willamson and others). The conservatism has by some, including by Monseigneur Lefebvre, the founder of SSPX, also been expressed politically with defence of Pinochet, Franco, Salazar, Pétain, Le Pen... and the condemnation of the French Revolution...

I wish you a nice weekend!

47 comments:

betsy said...

The beauty you capture in Paris is astonishing. I love your photos. Thanks

betsy said...

Gorgeous photos

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» happened upon this church walking one Sunday to le Panthéon. He was favorably impressed with the organ - and the organist.

James said...

I dlon't think that I've seen this one before. It sounds like a rather interesting place. :)

Dianne said...

Wow !! what beautiful pic. I love this Church - very elegant especially that lovely window with detail in the centre. - is this Gothic architecture?
Dianne

Anonymous said...
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Alain said...

Bati sur un pré où poussait des chardons -dixit Mrs Wiki - c'est devenu un chardon dans la pantoufle du Saint Père.

PeterParis said...

Another "anonymous" spam, just deleted!

hpy said...

Comme je suis un peu à court d'idées pour mon blog en ce moment ton post me donne une idée. Si je commençais à montrer des lieux de cultes! Mais pour faire cela il faudrait déjà que je sorte de chez moi ce qui n'est pas souvent le cas en ce moment.
As-tu utilisé le flash (j'aime pas trop, que ce soit dans des églises ou ailleurs, mais parfois c'est nécessaire) ou l'église était-elle suffisamment éclairée?
Nos églises de campagne - pour le peu que je les ai visitées - sont plutôt sombres...

Cergie said...

Adorable HPy, les lieux contenant de l'eau bénite où tout le monde trempe ses doigts changeraient des chateaux d'eau potable !
Si j'ai tout bien suivi ds les journaux il me semble que Benoit arrange le coup avec les séparatistes
Quoi d'autre ? Que les lieux sont ce que les occupants en font (cf aussi l'église ST Bernard)

Cergie said...

Ce jour, Peter a cédé à la pression et demandé à tous les commentateurs de passer un test !

corthi

claude said...

Tes photos sont sublimes, Peter, comme d'hab.
Elle est somptueuse cette église.
Merci pour cette visite.

PeterParis said...

I just introduced "word verification" for the first time (if it works). Too many spams, including on older posts. Hope to cancel it in a while.

Adam said...

Heavy stuff! I like walking around churches, but it's a shame that religion sometimes spoils a nice visit!

alice said...

De drôles de paroissiens dans ce lieu...

Cezar and Léia said...

This Church is magnificent!
I would love to stay there and appreciated the sound of that organ!I imagine it's wonderful.
Thanks for sharing!
hugs
Léia

BLOGitse said...

Beautiful as always!

Could you once post very bad shots so I can say something different? Thank you! LOL! Have a great Friday!

BLOGitse

Nathalie H.D. said...

Une belle église pour une sale réputation d'intégrisme. Une église qui défend Pinochet, Franco, Pétain etc ça fait mal au coeur.

Corine said...

Such a beautiful church and the paintings inside are gorgeous. I love all the different angles that you capture of these sites. Thank you and have a nice weekend!

Simony said...

Extremely beautiful! I just wish I could be there! Beautiful photos!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Thats very very impressive!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Starman said...

Bon weekend.

Catherine said...

Au royaume des aveugles, les "bornés" sont les rois. Ameennnn !
Les bornés aux oeillères, et à l'esprit saint bancal (normal, quand on ne voit que d'un oeil)

Maya said...

It looks like a beautiful church!

Shammickite said...

There must have been some talented designers and well-educated architects in Paris back in those days, and there must have been plenty of labour available too, to be able to build such magnificent buildings!

Jeanie said...

Such light. I am not Catholic, but I find the Catholic churches seem to really soar with such beauty! All this without computer technology to actually figure the thing out!

Ruth said...

You not only show buildings, alleys and windows I've never seen or heard of, you tell about corners of history I never knew too. I still think there are not as many sects in Catholicism as in Protestantism. Maybe.

Bon week-end, Peter.

claude said...

Je viens de lire ton com. Imagine toique je dois encore jouer du couteau pour allumer mon PC. Il a le bitoniau sensible maintenant.
e principal c'est que j'y arrive, mais pour combien de temps !
Le peste si je n'ai pas mon ordi, Je suis effectivement son esclave.

Virginia said...

This is a beautiful church and one I have not seen. I was beginning to think I had seen them all! The light in these photos is just lovely. Maybe I'll get to visit this one!
V
Bon weekend!

Shionge said...

I don't think I have visited this church and it is gorgeous... :D

Kate said...

I think that the fresco in the small photo of the nave is particularly appealing. Your last sentence of your narrative is jarring.

StyleSpy said...

I'm a little unnerved to realize how many beautiful churches I've walked right past and never noticed while I'm in Paris. Must pay more attention...

オテモヤン said...
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Olivier said...

une belle lumière dans cette église

PeterParis said...

Betsy:
Thanks for these kind words!

Louis:
The organ is old (18th century I believe) and good! :-)

James:
Interesting under several aspects!

PeterParis said...

Puddinglane:
Good! Well, this is not gothic. The present church is built later, possible in a style you can refer to as the "Grand Siècle". :-)


Alain:
Bien dit ... comme d'habitude! :-)

hpy:
Pas de flash! :-)

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
Je crois que Benoit arrange les choses à sa façon. :-)

Cergie (bis):
Trop de spams... Je vais essayer d'enlever ce filtre dans quelques temps. :-)

Claude:
Oui, l'église est belle, c'est sur! :-)

PeterParis said...

Adam:
Special sorts of religion, yes! :-)

Alice:
En effet! :-)

Léia:
Would you be able to follow the mass in Latin? :-)

PeterParis said...

BLOGitse:
Don't worry, the bad photos will be there! :-)

Nathalie:
En effet; nous sommes d'accord! :-)

Corine:
Yes, the church is beautiful! :-)

PeterParis said...

Symone Silva:
Now you know where to find it! :-)

V Rakesh:
Thanks! :-)

Starman:
Merci! :-)

PeterParis said...

Catherine:
Bien dit! :-)

Maya:
It is! :-)

Shammickite:
Definitely! :-)

PeterParis said...

Jeanie:
The church builders those days ... and earlier, were clever! :-)

Ruth:
I don't know, but you are probably right! :-)

Claude:
Un PC qui ne marche pas, c'est le catastrophe! :-)

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
I'm afraid you still have a few tens to visit! But you don't mind, I believe! :-)

Shionge:
You can't visit them all! :-)

Kate:
Jarring, indeed! :-)

PeterParis said...

StyleSpy:
As a blogger, you must always look to the right and the left! :-)

Oliver:
Je suis d'accord! :-)

arabesque said...

imposing structures! ^0^
the details are just magnificent inside out.
i'm amaze at how you get these fotos without flash, coz, i know, they usually look dimmer inside.
of course, my favorite would be the altar itself. ^-^

Trotter said...

Salazar, Franco, Lefebvre, Le Pen... les beaux esprits...
Quelle troupe!!

PeterParis said...

Trotter:
En effet! :-)