In the streets of Paris VIII - SOME CHURCHES The Church of the Madeleine
The Church of the Madeleine, with its facade imitating ancient temples, hold the prospect of the Rue Royale and did so during the National Assembly, whose facade is also adorned with a portico with Corinthian columns. Although traditionally the churches are oriented east-west, the chancel being to the east, toward the holy city of Jerusalem, the Madeleine is an exception with a north-south to be at the extreme north of the axis The visual Madeleine Rue Royale, Place de la Concorde, Palais Bourbon Les Invalides
Placed on a base of 4 meters in height, the church reproduces the shape of an ancient temple surrounded by 52 Corinthian columns. Its dimensions are impressive: 108 meters long, 43 meters wide, 30 meters high. Inside, a nave 80 meters lavishly decorated with marble from the Pyrenees, Italy and Belgium. The main façade is crowned by a large pediment of 40 meters wide and 11 meters high. Nineteen figures conform to the shape of the triangular pediment. Christ is in the middle, on the right of Christ, an angel proclaims the glory of elected officials led by the eight Virtues; left St. Magdalene kneeling implores Christ among the reprobate personified by the Vices.
Chopin, who lived 12, Place Vendome, died October 17, 1849, died of tuberculosis at the age of 39 years. He had requested that Mozart's Requiem is performed during his funeral. But women were not allowed to sing in the choir of the church, the funeral was postponed two weeks. Finally the pastor of the church and ends up accepting of Chopin's last wish can be fulfilled.
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The Church of St. Etienne du Mont
Church of Saint-Etienne Mountain is located at the top of the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve and is among the most beautiful churches in Paris. Its construction started in 1492 but was not consecrated until 1626. With very mixed style combining mainly the Gothic Renaissance style, it differs completely from other churches and it has the last extant carved rood screen in Paris real lace stone which the central gallery (1535) is flanked by two impressive staircases screws. The pulpit and organ gallery, both from the XVII are also remarkable. In the church and the cloister gallery, which surrounds the bedside, you can admire the finest collection of ancient stained glass in Paris (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) after the Sainte Chapelle.
For a winter day, January 10, 1896, the Saint-Etienne du Mont was packed to celebrate the funeral of a beloved poet and cursed: Verlaine, "the sad wanderer, tramp the Socratic" of Street Descartes. Fauré was at the organ; Mallarme wrote, "It was, friends and sky, beautiful mourning and serenity."
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The church of Saint-Eustache
This church is one of the few Renaissance churches in Paris. Its construction began in 1532 and continues for over a century. During the Revolution, the church was looted and vandalized. The building was transformed in 1797 into a temple of agriculture. In 1844, a fire caused extensive damage in the first three bays of the nave. Victor Baltard, the architect of the famous Les Halles (now extinct) later became the head of the restoration of the church.
is the largest church Capital after Notre-Dame de Paris: 105 meters long, 43 meters wide and 33.5 meters high. Its structure remains influential Gothic flying buttresses and ribbed vaults, but the ornaments are in Renaissance style.
number of illustrious French characters have received the sacraments. Louis XIV made his first communion in 1649, Molière is baptized and Jeanne Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV. The funeral of La Fontaine are celebrated in 1695.
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Church of Saint Germain des Pres
completed in 558 and consecrated by the Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur Saint-Germain, the church houses the remains of her royal Sponsor King Childebert 1. This Merovingian king built the Basilica of Holy Cross to house the tombs of kings. Alternately burned by Vikings in the ninth century, rebuilt in the year one thousand by the abbot Morard, enlarged in 1163 by Pope Alexander III, his influence goes fast boundaries of the capital and the abbey became a parish known. The French Revolution transforms successively from 1789 to prison, torture for two hundred Parisians who are massacred, and then deposit the powder and ammunition. Fatal error, 15 tons of explosives in smoke within its walls and cause a terrible fire that destroyed his carpentry and much of its treasures, including its famous theological library. In the nineteenth century, architects and Baltard Godde, restore and give the appearance that it retains today.
Few visitors know that inside the oldest church in Paris, is a small drawing by Picasso depicting the head of a woman. Placed in the corner which corner with the Rue Bonaparte, this drawing is a tribute to the poet friend of the English painter, Guillaume Apollinaire.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
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The church of Saint-Gervais-St. Protais
This church is one of the oldest in Paris, since its existence is mentioned in this place from the sixth century. Once home to the powerful brotherhood of wine merchants, it takes its appearance current from the sixteenth century. Its facade will be completed much later, around 1620, showing a mastery of classic beauty. The place which spreads before the stairs of the church has long been called "Carrefour de l'Orme" since the Middle Ages, a venerable elm, several hundred years old, sat in its center. Area residents were accustomed to navigate to discharge their debts. Several performances of this legendary elm still remain, in the stalls of the Church and some nearby buildings.
Church Saint-Gervais has hosted one of the most famous dynasties French musicians for over two centuries from 1653: the Couperin. On the side of the church still remains the home of famous harpsichordist, organist and composer and a plaque commemorating their address. The prestigious organ of Louis and François Couperin exists still today inside the Church. Built by the most famous of the time factors which Clicquot, it is perfectly representative of the great French Baroque Organ School.
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The Great Mosque of Paris
On the sides of the entrance of the Great Mosque of Paris, engraved in stone, it reads: "Welcome, O faithful. Enter to see what he will not be allowed look elsewhere. "
The decision to build the Great Mosque of Paris was taken after the Battle of Verdun in 1916 that killed more than 50,000 Muslims died. The hectare of land is offered by the city of Paris in 1920. This is the first mosque in the metropolis, its foundation stone was laid in 1922, it was inaugurated in 1926.
Moorish-inspired, all the buildings are arranged around the patio colonnade, accessible from the courtyard by a majestic portal fully decorated. At its center stands a huge cauldron with jets of water used for ablutions. The decor of the patio is a surprisingly rich, it contains all the elements constituting the Moroccan art for centuries. Great Mosque minaret has a square of 33m, built on the example of one of the first mosque of Kairouan Maghreb (Tunisia). There is also a madrassa (school), a library and a conference room and a restaurant, a Moorish cafe and a steam room. Ceramics at the mosque following the traditional art of zellige. A special glaze can draw the desired shapes. The geometric shapes are articulated around a central star-shaped.
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