Église Saint-Eugène Paris

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Frédéric Moussaïan photo

Frédéric from Paris

Paris is a city very adapted to my way of life: easy to walk, full of fascinatin...

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Everyone knows the Eiffel tower, the symbol of Paris and of France. In a way, the Eiffel Tower (1889) is symbolic of the metallic architecture, characteristic of the second part of the 19th century, when Paris regularly organized World Fairs, during which all international and technological new trends were presented.

But 35 years before the tower, a less famous construction – but no less interesting at all – witnessed this new “Iron Age”: the church Saint-Eugène Sainte-Cécile, located in the former working-class Faubourg Poissonnière.

It took only 20 months to be built, in an ogival style (it’s an example of Gothic Revival in Paris), it is the first church in France with a fully metallic structure (except the 4 main walls, built in masonry), which you can check if you knock on one of the numerous slender and colored columns… The use of metal not only reduced the costs considerably, but its strength allowed the columns and walls to be thinner, which increases the impression of space and lightness when you get inside. It also made the use of flying buttresses, those structural elements typical for Gothic Art, that you can see at Notre-Dame or Saint-Séverin, unnecessary.

Many elements of the decoration (stained glass windows, organ, spiral staircases at the angles…) are also worth a look: they were all presented at the first Paris Expo in 1855, at the time of Haussmann’s Renovations of Paris.

Last but not least, the church is often empty and quiet.

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Frédéric from Paris

Frédéric Moussaïan photo

Paris is a city very adapted to my way of life: easy to walk, full of fascinatin...

Read all articles

Details about this spot

Categories

Address

4 Rue du Conservatoire, Paris

Telephone number

+33148247025

Opening Times

Mon - Sun 07:15 - 21:00

Price

Free

Website

Last Changed Date: 2016-05-19 11:45:13 +0200 (Thu, 19 May 2016)