100 Churches in Paris and elsewhere

Fourteenth century Gothic cathedral, dedicated to John the Baptist, well-known curtain-raiser act for Jesus Christ and known to Muslims as the prophet Yahya. John had a successful career as preacher and influencer, but eventually was beheaded, apparently for criticizing Royalty. Well after his death, some claimed he had been the long-awaited Messiah, but by far the majority voted for Jesus.   Comes along with cloister. The building of the cathedral was delayed for a few decades because of the Black Death ! The church has eighteen chapels, lovely swirly marble floors, and Stations of the Cross which appear to be in beaten metal. There are also some ornate golden altarpieces. Finally, you can see an impressive group of statues of « Jesus being laid in the tomb » - about which I have no further information.

 Louis XIII swore he would have a church built in Paris if he won the battle against the protestants, back in 1628. He won the siege of La Rochelle, and this church was built. During the French revolutionary years it was recycled as the HQ of the National Lottery – the church got it back in 1802. The architecture is from the very chunky indeed period. Around the altar are six paintings by Carle van Loo. One of them shows Louis swearing to have a church built in Paris… and the other six are scenes from the life of Saint Augustine, the North African rhetorician from the 4th century who integrated some Roman philosophy with Christian theology (after a youth of not inconsiderable amounts of sex, drugs and rock n roll). The altar table, the confessional, the Stations of the Cross – I liked them all.   But the church is mostly known for its large number of ex voto plaques, placed there by people through the centuries who wanted to thank Our Lady for having answered their prayers...