“Did they really tear down a whole church because it was falling apart?” a voice whispered. It seems like a drastic measure, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly what happened to the predecessor of Église Saint-Jacques et Saint-Philippe. Imagine standing here in the heart of 18th century Paris, watching as the dilapidated old chapel, a relic of a leper colony from centuries past, is reduced to rubble. The chapel, originally dedicated to Saint Jacques and Saint Philippe, served a burgeoning parish. It desperately needed rebuilding. The parishioners, for decades, had endured services in what they called “a place wholly indecent for a church”. Finally, in 1767, King Louis XV himself commissioned a new church. He even helped secure the land after a previous attempt failed. You see, the first plot, a gift from the King in 1741, sat atop the “grand égout”. This “grand sewer,” which ran along present-day Rue La Boétie, made it impossible to lay stable foundations. The new Église Saint-Jacques et Saint-Philippe, designed by Jean-François Chalgrin, the architect who would later design the Arc de Triomphe, was a masterpiece of Neoclassical design. It was to have soaring twin towers flanking the nave, a grand vision, tragically cut short by lack of funds. Despite this, the church we see today, even without its intended towers, remains a testament to architectural ambition and royal patronage.
Église Notre-Dame de l’Air
Beneath what appears to be a simple stone and wood structure lies a history interwoven with faith aviation and community.