Saint Germain des Prés Church district
Saint Germain des Prés Church stands in one of Paris’s most iconic neighbourhoods.
The village of Saint-Germain-des-Prés developed fifteen centuries around the abbey, which, for centuries, was a centre of intellectual life within Catholic France.
The neighbourhood experienced remarkable growth in the 17th century under the patronage of Abbot Louis-César de Bourbon, son of King Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
The Romanesque nave of the basilica was restored under his authority.
However, much of this heritage disappeared during the French Revolution. The abbey was indeed dismantled, and the neighbourhood was rebuilt. Today, only the abbey church remains.
Foundation of the Abbey of Saint Germain des Prés
Saint Germain des Prés Church is one of the oldest Romanesque churches in France.
In 558 AD, King Childebert I indeed commissioned the construction of the Basilique Saint-Vincent-Sainte-Croix (Saint Vincent and the Holy Cross), on the remains of a Roman temple to house sacred relics brought back from Spain, including a fragment of the True Cross and the tunic of Saint Vincent.
Its first bishop, Germanus, consecrated the basilica on December 23, 558 AD, the day of Childebert died! In 754 AD, the abbey was renamed in honour of Saint Germain, who was buried in the chancel.
The church became known as Saint-Germain-des-Prés to distinguish it from the Church of Saint-Germain-le-Vieux, which once stood on the Île de la Cité. All French sovereigns were buried in Saint Germain des Prés Church until the 7th century, when King Dagobert I founded the Abbey of Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
Unfortunately, the Normans destroyed this first Abbey of saint Germain during the siege of Paris in 885-886.
Romanesque Saint Germain des Prés Church
The abbey and its church were rebuilt between 990 and 1021, but various architectural elements were added or enlarged over the centuries.
The choir was enlarged in the 12th century.
A century later, Pierre de Montreuil built the Gothic cloister, the Chapel of the Virgin, the refectory, the dormitory, and the chapter house.
In the 17th century, the Gothic wooden vault of the nave and the 12th-century choir were adorned with paintings, and in the 1840s, Flandrin created magnificent frescoes above the arcades.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés was one of the most splendid and prosperous abbeys in the Kingdom of France until the Revolution, when it was demolished, except its church, which was restored in the 19th century.
The oldest Romanesque belfry in France
The bell tower of Saint Germain des Prés Church was built in the 11th century, but its upper section was rebuilt in the 12th century.
However, as its base remained intact, it is today one of the oldest Romanesque towers in France.
This bell tower was restored in the 19th century by Baltard, the renowned architect of the former Les Halles market in Paris.
The church suffered a serious structural problem, which led to the collapse of the porch in 1604. Fortunately, most of the original Romanesque columns remained intact, but the portal was replaced two years later with the current one.
The church is accessed by contemporary wrought-iron gate created by Raymond Subes, one of the most renowned pioneers of ironwork during the Art Deco period.
The ghosts of Saint Germain des Prés Abbey
Although the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés was unfortunately dismantled during the French Revolution, numerous traces of its existence remain in the neighbourhood, on both sides of what is now Boulevard Saint-Germain.
The 18th-century presbytery and the 16th-century episcopal palace are located at Nos. 3-7 Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Despite their repurposing, these buildings retain their architectural character.
Many other 13th-century remains, now listed as historical monuments, are located in the cellars of the surrounding private properties and are therefore not open to the public.
Medieval Saint-Germain Fair
The Galerie Commerciale-Marché Saint-Germain (Shopping Centre) was built in 1818 on the site of the historic Foire Saint-Germain.
This renowned fair, established by King Louis II in 1482, was a major economic and social event that attracted crowds from the entire kingdom and beyond, until the French Revolution.
The Rue du Four was opened in the 13th century and named after the abbey’s bread oven (four), which served both the monks and the local villagers who worked under their patronage.
The abbey was fortified with a wall during the Hundred Years’ War in the 14th century. These crenellated ramparts, watchtowers, and moats were dismantled in the following century to free up land for construction.
The current Rue de l’Echaudé, formerly known as Chemin-sur-les-Fossés-de-l’Abbaye, follows the layout of a section of the ditch that once protected these ramparts.
Rue de Furstemberg and Rue de l’Abbaye
Rue de Furstemberg, Rue Cardinal, and Passage de la Petite Boucherie were created in 1699.
The abbey stables, located at Nos. 8 to 6 Rue de Furstemberg, were converted into apartments after the French Revolution. The renowned painter Eugène Delacroix resided at No. 6 from 1857 to 1863 in an apartment that now houses a museum dedicated to his life and work.
Rue de l’Abbaye was created after the Revolution. Nos. 11 to 16 retain vestiges of the cloister, chapter house, and refectory of the abbey, rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries.
However, the monks’ refectory was demolished and converted into an arsenal, and was destroyed in a devastating explosion in 1794. This catastrophe also resulted in the loss of a large part of the abbey’s library, the surviving books being scattered.
The magnificent Gothic Chapel of the Virgin, created by Pierre de Montreuil and located at Nos. 6 to 8, also disappeared in the explosion. While the chapel no longer exists, some fragments of its portal were saved and are now on display in the small public garden adjoining the church on Rue de l’Abbaye.
A few benches have been placed around the central lawn, where you can admire the statue of Guillaume Apollinaire, a work by Picasso entitled “Homage to Apollinaire.”
Directions: 6th district
Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés on Line 4
Coordinates: Lat 48.853798 – long 2.333328
