“Did they really demolish two streets to make one?” The Rue Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, now lost to time, was once a bustling thoroughfare in the heart of Paris. Imagine yourselves standing right here in the 13th century. This street would have been teeming with life. The Rue Saint-Étienne-des-Grès got its name from the church it led to, the Église Saint-Étienne-des-Grès. The church itself has a rather intriguing past. It housed a venerated Black Madonna known as Notre Dame de Bonne Dèlivrance, a beacon of hope for many. Even after the church’s destruction during the Revolution, the statue found a new home. It rests today with the Sisters of St. Thomas of Villeneuve in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The Rue Saint-Étienne-des-Grès wasn’t alone. Just across Rue Saint-Jacques lay another street, Rue des Grès. In a bid to simplify the city’s layout, both streets were merged in 1865. They then became what we know today as Rue Cujas. So, as you stroll along Rue Cujas, remember the whispers of the past, the echoes of the Rue Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, lost but not forgotten.
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.