5.5.11

Saint-François-Xavier Church

In the previous post about Avenue de Breteuil, I “promised” to revert with a post about the Saint-François-Xavier Church, so here it is.

Not so much to say about this church, which is fairly new, “only” about 150 years old. I would say that it’s another example of a type of churches built in Paris during this period with a “modern” mix of different classical models … but still of course beautiful.
(If you read the information given in the church, part of the interior decoration should be due to the same person who made the mosaics in the Sacré Coeur de Paris; this information is however false – he made it in the Sacré Coeur de Marseille.)
In a golden bronze-chasse you can find the body of  Saint-Madeleine-Sophie Barat (1779-1865) who created the female congregation of the Sacred Heart, today with some 3000 members, present on the five continents.
On the back side of the church is a statue of General Charles Mangin (1866-1925), one of the WWI heroes. This statue replaces a previous one, which was destroyed on direct order by Hitler in 1940. There is a photo with his 8 kids; one of them is the dad of a previous neighbour with whom, together with our respective dogs, I made regular evening walks during some ten years.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

Great pics and thanks for sharing. Have to admit that I prefer the unmixed renaissance, gothic and baroc styles, instead of blended!

Olivier said...

l’intérieur est tout simplement magique

Pierre BOYER said...

Merci pour la visite !

Pierre

claude said...

C'est d'un beau là-dedans !
Je la trouve plus belle dedans que dehors.

hpy said...

Bien entendu, je n'ai jamais pris la peine d'y pénétrer, bien que passant devant très souvent. (Dans une vie antérieure, bien entendu.) Elle est belle des deux cotés.

Synne said...

Oh, I remember walking past this church the last time I was around, and now I know a bit about what the inside looks like! It's beautiful, not surprising. Thanks!

Ruth said...

Beautiful church. And how amazing that you lived near the Mangin child all those years. I wish my dad would have posed with us 8 kids in a portrait like that. But you can see one similar to it on some different stairs on my sidebar! ;-)

Moss said...

Stunning!...

Cezar and Léia said...

This is also "my kind of subject", I love the art in these wonderful Cathedrals, the stained glasses, the lights,the architecture, the history...Your first composition is magnificent!
*** Hey, you need to plan a trip to visit us in Luxembourg! How cool!

Hugs
Léia

Julie said...

I did little tests of myself during this latest visit. Each time on the metro, I would try to pronounce the next stop before the PA. This stop (Francois-Xavier Line 13) I could never pronounce properly. I would need to slow it down very much!

lasiate said...

armée et religion tous unis dans la mort. Mais de biens jolies prises

Starman said...

Beautiful and well complimented by your narrative as usual.

Elisabeth said...

Stunning images, here Peter. I'm new to your blog via Ruth's blog. I'm from Australia and I enjoy traveling the world through other people's blogs.

Catherine said...

another wonderful post - can't wait to get to Paris to re-explore!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wonderful pictures. Absolutely iconic.

Cergie said...

Tout dans le décorum, mais la relique, bof comme déco. Tu nous en as montré une autre une fois, mais tu nous montreras l'église Ste Marguerite aussi ?
....
Non, tu ne vais pas me dire que tu l'as déjà fait ?

Delphinium said...

Après l'église sainte marguerite, nous aurons droit à l'église sainte tulipe et surtout saint tournesol, le grand, le beau saint tournesol. Mais cette église que tu nous montres today, enfin hier, mince déjà un jour de retard, est toute chouquinette.
Le seigneur est un veinard, il a de sacrées belles propriétés pour y passer ses vacances.

Alain said...

Les vitaux sont assez "gratinés" !

Unknown said...

What a composition on top, Peter. It's brilliant!

Mona said...

Peter, I was watching the Royal Wedding at the Westminster Abbey and I thought of you!

Simony said...

I always loved to visit churches just for its art. And you have so many of them here! Thanks for sharing.

Richard said...

"Not much to say"? - but plenty to look at though!

I like the photos - can I ask did you correct the perspective in some of them?

Mary Ann Pickett said...

Spectacular, Peter!

I featured you in my post today:
http://www.classiccasualhome.com/2011/05/parisian-chic-and-important-blog-tip.html
Thanks, again.

Virginia said...

You find another for me to explore. Merci.
V

arabesque said...

funny when you posted the church as not being so old...
It clearly shows that Paris has much history and a lot to tell.
Despite this, I did enjoy its interior and details.
It's still an elegant church esp. by looking closely at its ceiling details.

Trotter said...

With Eiffel and Napoleon around the corner, not so many people get ther; but it's definitely worth a visit...