Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church built by Chalgrin and Godde
Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church was built in the 1770s and 1780s to replace the Chapel of Saint-Philippe-Saint-Jacques, dedicated to the patron saints of the mint workers and attached to a hospital built by the Mint Corporation. However, this chapel was demolished in 1739, leaving the neighbourhood without a parish church.
Louis XV thus commissioned the architect Chalgrin to design a new church.
Renowned artists contributed to the decoration of the church, which is renowned for its neoclassical elegance and simplicity, a style dear to Chalgrin. A double row of Ionic columns indeed supports the nave’s vaulted barrel, which leads to a semicircular apse.
The architect Godde took over the project after Chalgrin’s death. In 1845, he enlarged the church with a gallery supported by a new row of Ionic columns, identical to those built by Chalgrin and sculpted by François Duret.
He also built the Chapelle de la Vierge (Chapel of the Virgin) built in 1851. Claude Jacquand painted frescoes illustrating the life of Saint Mary, while Charles Nanteuil sculpted the marble statue of the Virgin and Child.
In 1853, Baltard, the architect of Les Halles, once more enlarged Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church with the Chapelle du Catéchisme (Catechism Chapel). Finally, in 1855, the painter Chassériau adorned the chancel with a magnificent Descent from the Cross.
Thus, although Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church may not be the most famous in Paris, it is certainly worth a visit!
The old Roule village
Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church is located at the western end of the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
This street replaced the muddy path that once connected the fortified Saint-Honoré Gate to the village of Roule, which had developed outside the city walls during the Middle Ages.
The village eventually split into two distinct communes: Haut-Roule, around the former Château des Ternes, and Bas-Roule, which had developed near the Hôtel du Bas-Roule, a leper colony built by the Paris Mint.
Roule became a suburb of Paris in 1822 and was incorporated into Paris during the territorial reform of 1860, which defined the city’s new boundaries.
Today, the Roule district and its church are part of one of the most upscale neighborhoods in Paris.
Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church is one of the 25 Paris churches I have selected for you, lesser-known, yet equally remarkable.
Directions: 8th District – Place Chassaigne-Goyon – No.154 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Metro: St-Philippe-du-Roule on Line 1
Coordinates Saint-Philippe-du-Roule Church: Lat 48.873269 – Long 2.310732
