Were you aware that the towers of u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice are mismatched? This architectural quirk adds to the unique charm of this Parisian church. u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice is a Catholic church. It stands in the 6th arrondissement. Slightly smaller than Notre-Dame and Saint-Eustache it ranks as the third largest church in Paris. The church is dedicated to Sulpitius the Pious.
Construction started in 1646. It replaced an older Romanesque church from the 13th century. Parish priest Jean-Jacques Olier initiated the new building. He also founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice. Anne of Austria laid the first stone.
The Fronde civil wars disrupted construction. By 1660 only the Lady Chapel was complete. Daniel Gittard then provided a new design. He finished the sanctuary ambulatory and transept. Lack of funds halted work again.
Gilles-Marie Oppenord and Giovanni Servandoni later supervised construction. They mainly worked on the nave and side chapels. Su00e9bastien-Antoine Slodtz and Paul-Ambroise Slodtz handled the decoration. Oppenord also added unusual concave walls to the transept portals. He built a bell tower that was too heavy. It threatened to collapse the structure.
Servandoni won a competition to design the west facade in 1732. His design resembled St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The 1739 Turgot map shows the church largely complete but without its towers.
The French Revolution intervened and the south tower was never replaced. Jean Chalgrin rebuilt the north tower. He made it taller and more neoclassical. The facade exists now in an altered form. Lightning struck the pediment in 1770. It was then removed and replaced with a balustrade.
Look closely at the main entrance. You can still see a faded sign from the Revolution. It reads “The French people recognize the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul”.
Inside u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice notice the giant shells. They serve as holy water fonts. King Francis I received them from the Venetian Republic. Jean-Baptiste Pigalle sculpted their rock-like bases.
Pigalle also designed the statue of Mary in the Lady Chapel. This replaced a silver statue that disappeared during the Revolution. The Lady Chapel’s dome has a fresco by Franu00e7ois Lemoyne. Charles de Wailly designed the pulpit. The parish priest once refused to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy from it.
Eugu00e8ne Delacroix added murals in the Chapel of the Holy Angels. “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” is the most famous.
The Marquis de Sade and Charles Baudelaire were baptized here. Victor Hugo married Adu00e8le Foucher in u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice too.
Saint-Sulpice houses a famous organ. Aristide Cavaillu00e9-Coll rebuilt it in 1862. It is considered his masterpiece. Sophie-Vu00e9ronique Cauchefer-Choplin and Karol Mossakowski are its current organists. Sunday organ concerts are held regularly.
The gnomon is a unique feature. It helped determine the date of Easter. Constructed by Henry Sully it also served scientific purposes. This may have saved the u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice during the Revolution.
Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” brought many tourists. A sign now clarifies that the line in the floor is not a vestige of a pagan temple. The letters “P” and “S” refer to Peter and Sulpice not an imaginary Priory of Sion.
So as you leave u00c9glise Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sulpice remember its mismatched towers its revolutionary history and its artistic treasures. It is a Parisian landmark full of surprises.