92 Paris 5th arrondissement. St Etienne du Mont. Great tragedian buried here
This church was finished in the 17th century, and stands just behind the Pantheon, where France’s great heroes are buried. During the French Revolution it was briefly converted into a Temple of Filial Piety, at the moment when the revolution was so ambitious it planned to replace the Christian religion (this was the time when they also set up the decimal ten hour day and made the clocks to go with it, so they were aiming high).
In 1857 an archbishop was murdered in this church by a (defrocked) priest shouting “Down with Goddesses”! The bloke was upset about the relatively new idea that Mary, Mother of Jesus had been conceived without sin.
Sainte Geneviève’s tomb is here (patron saint of Paris don’t you know), though it has been empty since the French Revolution. It is also the last church in Paris, I am told, where you can still find a jubé (a rood screen) separating the altar from the main bit. This is where you can see spiral stone staircases, which are most impressive.
Racine, the celebrated 17th century playwright has his remains buried in the church. Pierre Perrault (father of the author of Sleeping Beauty) also does. And there are the remains of Blaise Pascal, the great 17th century mathematician, physicist and theologian who invented the first calculator.
There is some fabulous 16th century stained glass, and a 16th century Laying in the Tomb.
