Saint-Eustache, Paris

Saint-Eustache, Paris
Saint-Eustache from the south east
Basic information
Location	2 Impasse Saint-Eustache, 1^er arr.
Geographic coordinates	48°51′48″N 2°20′42″E / 48.86333°N 2.34500°ECoordinates: 48°51′48″N 2°20′42″E / 48.86333°N 2.34500°E
Affiliation	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
State	France
Province	Archdiocese of Paris
Region	Île-de-France
Status	Active
Heritage designation	1862
Website	www.saint-eustache.org
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	French Gothic
Groundbreaking	1532
Completed	1633
Direction of façade	West

The Church of St Eustace, Paris (French: L’église Saint-Eustache) is a church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The present building was built between 1532 and 1632.

Situated at the entrance to Paris' ancient markets (Les Halles) and the beginning of rue Montorgueil, St Eustace's is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The church’s reputation was strong enough at the time for it to be chosen as the location for a young Louis XIV to receive communion. Mozart also chose the sanctuary as the location for his mother’s funeral. Among those baptised here as children were Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour and Molière, who was also married here in the 17th century. The last rites for Anne of Austria, Turenne and Mirabeau were pronounced within its walls. Marie de Gournay is buried there.

History

Église Saint-Eustache, South Facade with the L'écoute sculpture by Henri de Miller

Situated in Les Halles, an area of Paris once renowned for fresh produce of all kinds, the origins of Saint Eustache date back to 13th century. The church became a parish church in 1223, thanks to a man named Jean Alais who achieved this by taxing the baskets of fish sold nearby, as granted by King Philip Augustus. To thank such divine generosity, Alais constructed a chapel dedicated to Sainte-Agnès, a Roman martyr. The construction of the current church began in 1532, the work not being finally completed until 1637. The name of the church refers to Saint Eustace, a Roman general of the second century AD who was burned, along with his family, for converting to Christianity, and it is believed that it was the transfer of a relic of Saint Eustache from the Abbey to Saint-Denis to the Church of Saint Eustache which resulted in its naming. Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes was baptised here.

According to tourist literature on-site, during the French Revolution the church, like most churches in Paris, was desecrated, looted, and used for a time as a barn. The church was restored after the Revolution had run its course and remains in use today. Several impressive paintings by Rubens remain in the church today. Each summer, organ concerts commemorate the premieres of Berlioz’s Te Deum and Liszt’s Christus here in 1886.

Description

The interior viewed from the western entrance

The church is an example of a Gothic structure clothed in Renaissance detail. Although the architects are unknown, similarities to designs used in the extension of the church of Saint-Maclou in Pontoise (begun in 1525) point to Jean Delamarre and/or Pierre Le Mercier, who collaborated in that work.^[1] The Italian-born architect Domenico da Cortona has also been suggested.^[2] The church is relatively short in length at 105m, but its interior is 33.45m high to the vaulting. At the main façade, the left tower has been completed in Renaissance style, while the right tower remains a stump. The front and rear aspects provide a remarkable contrast between the comparatively sober classical front and the exuberant rear, which integrates Gothic forms and organization with Classical details. The L'écoute sculpture by Henri de Miller appears outside the church, to the south. A Keith Haring sculpture stands in a chapel of the church.

Chapel of the Virgin

The Chapel of the Virgin

The Chapel of the Virgin was built in 1640 and restored from 1801 to 1804. It was inaugurated by Pius VII on the 22nd of December, 1804 when he came to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon.

The apse chapel, with a ribbed cul-de-four vault, has at its centre a sculpture of the Virgin and Child of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle that the painter Thomas Couture highlighted by three large paintings on the themes:

• Paintings of the Chapel of the Virgin
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  Left panel: "The Virgin of the star sailors"

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  "Central panel: "The triumphant Virgin adored by angels"

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  Right panel: "The Virgin comforting the afflicted"

Stained glass

• 

  Education of Louis IX (St. Louis Chapel)

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• 
• 
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  Glass of the south transept

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  Glass of the north transept

Organ

The church's organ at the west end of the church. On the left is the pulpit and woodwork by Pierre Lepautre depicting the triumph of St. Agnes.

With 8,000 pipes, the organ is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France, surpassing the organs of Saint Sulpice and Notre Dame de Paris. The organ originally constructed by P.-A. Ducroquet was powerful enough for the premiere of Hector Berlioz' titanic Te Deum to be performed at St-Eustache in 1855. It was later modified under the direction of Joseph Bonnet. The present organ of St. Eustache was designed by Jean-Louis Coignet under the direction of Titular Organist Jean Guillou and dates from 1989 when itwas almost entirely rebuilt by Dutch firm Van Den Heuvel, retaining a few ranks of pipes from the former organ and the wooden buffet, which is original.

I Positif C–c^4 Quintaton 16′ Montre 8′ Salicional 8′ Unda-Maris 8′ Bourdon 8′ Prestant 4′ Flûte à Fuseau 4′ Nasard 2^2/3′ Doublette 2′ Tierce 1^3/5′ Larigot 1^1/3′ Septième 1^1/7′ Fourniture V 2′ Cymbale II ^1/3′ Douçaine 16′ Trompette 8′ Cromorne 8′ Clairon 4′ Trémolo II Grand-Orgue C–c^4 Montre 32′ Montre 16′ Principal 8′ Flûte à Cheminée 8′ Violoncelle 8′ Grosse Flûte I–II 8′ Prestant 4′ Flûte 4′ Doublette 2′ Grande Fourniture IV–VIII 2^2/3′ Plein-Jeu IV–V 1′ Sesquialtera II 2^2/3′ Grand Cornet III–V Bombarde 16′ Trompette 8′ Clairon 4′

III Récit Expressif C–c^4 Flûte à Cheminée 16′ Principal 8′ Cor de Nuit 8′ Flûte Traversière 8′ Viole de Gambe 8′ Voix Céleste 8′ Octave 4′ Flûte Octaviante 4′ Octavin 2′ Carillon III 2^2/3′+1^3/5′+1′ Plein-Jeu VI 2^2/3′ Contrebasson 32′ Bombarde 16′ Trompette Harmonique 8′ Basson-Hautbois 8′ Voix Humaine 8′ Clairon Harmonique 4′ Trémolo IV Grand-Chœur C–c^4 Violonbasse 16′ Bourdon 16′ Diapason 8′ Flûte Majeure 8′ Violon 8′ Grande Quinte 5^1/3′ Principal 4′ Flûte Conique 4′ Grande Tierce 3^1/5′ Quinte 2^2/3′ Grande Septième 2^2/7′ Fifre 2′ Grande Neuvième 1^7/9′ Plein-Jeu Harmonique II–VIII 2′ Clarinette 16′ Cor de Basset 8′ Tuba Magna 16′ Tuba Mirabilis 8′ Cor Harmonique 4′

V Solo C–c^4 Flûte Harmonique 8′ Flûte Octaviante 4′ Nasard Harmonique 2^2/3′ Octavin 2′ Tierce Harmonique 1^3/5′ Piccolo Harmonique 1′ Harmoniques III 1^1/3′ +1^1/7′+^8/9′ Ranquette 16′ Chalumeau 8′ Trompeteria II Trompette en Chamade I–III 8′ Trémolo Pédale C–g^1 Principale basse 32′ Flûte 16′ Contrebasse 16′ Soubasse 16′ Grande Quinte 10^2/3′ Flûte 8′ Violoncelle 8′ Grande Tierce 6^2/5′ Quinte 5^1/3′ Flûte 4′ Flûte 2′ Théorbe II 4^4/7′+3^5/9′ Mixture V 4′ Contre-Bombarde 32′ Contre-Trombone 32′ Bombarde 16′ Basson 16′ Trompette 8′ Baryton 8′ Clairon 4′

Other burials

The tomb of Colbert, by Antoine Coysevox and Jean-Baptiste Tuby

• Scaramouche (Tiberio Fiorelli)
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert
• Jean-Philippe Rameau
• Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh

Access

___	Located near the Métro station: Les Halles.

See also

• Architecture of Paris

References

Notes

1. Ayers 2004, p. 52.
2. Fletcher, Banister and Palmes, J. C. A History of Architecture Charles Scriber's Sons, 1975. ISBN 0-684-14207-4, p. 908

Sources

• Ayers, Andrew (2004). The Architecture of Paris. Stuttgart: Axel Menges. ISBN 9783930698967.
• A.-M. Sankovitch, The Church of Saint-Eustache in the Early French Renaissance (= Architectura Moderna, 12), Turnhout, 2015 (ISBN 978-2-503-55514-0)

External links

• Official homepage (French)
• History and Picture in English Saint Eustache Church
• Article about Saint Eustache Church featured on CNN Traveller
• Example of how the Saint Eustache Church pipe organ sounds: Guillou Toccata by Nariné Simonian