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Thursday, November 3, 2011

St. Etienne Church

This church was a few block up the hill from our hotel and very near the Pantheon.  The stained glass windows were magnificent.  I was pleased that I was able to capture this one in such detail.  (A full view of the church can be seen on Wikipedia:  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont).  This church actually started as a chapel around 1222 but was soon too small to hold all the worshippers and visitors due to all the surrounding colleges being built in that area.....the Sorbonne being one of them.  An enlargement was done 1328 but still not large enough.  The monks donated land for a new church in 1492.  To read more of the history of this amazing building see the Wikipedia article.   



 I could find no documentation of these beautifully carved bannister walls and panels that led up the stairs.

What an amazing lectern!  I have seen these in churches in Wales, but none so intricately done as this one.  Such a masterpiece.....but, again, I could find no documentation on the artist(s).

The crypt of St. Genevieve...the patron saint of Paris.  Also entombed here are:  Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine.