In a
recent post, I made an « excuse » about maybe too often posting about
churches. Obviously, according to the comments, I’m “allowed” to make a few
more and I’m so far still only on a 17-18% level when it comes to the coverage
of the Paris churches… so here is about one more. Genie (‘”Paris and Beyond”),
who recently was in Paris, made a post, which incited me to go to…
… Notre-Dame-de-Lorette,
built in neoclassical style, which stood ready in 1836 and then was on the
outskirts of Paris, being more and more populated. A new church was needed.
Behind the church you find which was named “Nouvelle Athenes”, which
during the next decades became a refined area for the bourgeoisie and also was
where lived a number of artists like Liszt, Chopin, Georges Sand, Delacroix… (See
some previous posts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.)
“Lorette”
refers to the Italian city of Loreto and a legend linked to Virgin Mary. However,
the church gave the name to the great number of mistresses, courtesans, who those
days lived in the area and were named “lorettes” and who of course also visited
the Sunday mass. On the map at the end of the post, I included a picture (made
by Paul Gavarni, a famous caricaturist who also has his statue in the area, see
previous post) of a “lorette” praying at the church.
But
let’s just have a look at the church; from the outside (Sacré Coeur can – the rainy
day I took the photo - be more or less seen in the background).…
… and from the inside. What is particular about the church is
that most walls are painted (which obviously upset some people when it opened).
The ceiling is also remarkable. The organ is by one of the most famous organ
manufacturers, Cavaillé-Col (Notre-Dame, La Madeleine, St Roch, Pantheon,
St.Sulpice…), and Cesar Franck was for
a while the organist.
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