Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot

Church of Saint-Pierre de Chaillot
Église Saint-Pierre de Chaillot
48.8677°N 2.2985°E / 48.8677; 2.2985
Location	16th arrondissement of Paris
Country	France
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Website	eglise-chaillot.com

Saint-Pierre de Chaillot (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃.pjɛʁ də ʃa.jo]) is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Chaillot neighborhood of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, at 31, avenue Marceau. It is constructed in the "Romano-Byzantine" style.

History

Old church (1869)

The first church of Saint-Pierre de Chaillot dates back to the 11th century; it was the first church in Paris dedicated to Saint Peter. A second church was built in the 17th century. This church was entered from rue de Chaillot, and was a simple chapel with a brick facade opening onto avenue Marceau. The city of Paris today owns the church, because it was built on city property.

The former church hosted the funerals of Guy de Maupassant on 8 July 1893 and of Marcel Proust on 21 November 1922. All that remains of the old church is a statue of the Virgin Mary, the 'Vierge de Chaillot'.

The new church was part of a much large project called "Chantiers du Cardinal", which constructed many new churches in the years after World War I, to accommodate the enormous increase in the population of Paris.

The present building was designed by the architect Emile Bois (1875-1960) Construction begain in 1933 and was completed in 1938. It was built of reinforced concrete, with stone on the outside. It was the second largest of the news concrete Paris churches, next only to the enormous Saint-Esprit, Paris.. Henri Bouchard was the sculptor and Nicholas Untersteller the painter of the interior frescoes. Pierre Seguin sculpted the column capitals. The Maumejan brothers did the stained glass windows and also made the mosaic behind the altar in the crypt. Pierre Ducos de la Haille did the ceiling frescoes in the dome of the sanctuary as well as the frescoes in the crypt consisting of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Saint Peter.

The parish of the church includes the Apostolic Nuncio, the office of the permanent representative of th Vatican to France. As a consequence, Monsignor Roncali, the future Pope John XXIII, was a frequent visitor to the church.

The church was inscribed as an historic monument of France on November 3, 2016.

Exterior

The architecture of the church, like many other churches of the 1930s, was influenced by Byzantine architecture and Romanesque architecture, but the use of more modern materials such as reinforced concrete gave the architect more freedom. It is the ssecond-largest of the concrete churches inParis, The building has three elements; the bell tower, 65 meters high, which dominates the other structures;

The building has three elements; the bell tower on Avenue Moarceau, 65 meters high, which dominates the other structures; the lower church, in the form of a Greek cross, built like a crypt and, hidden below the other portions of the church; and the upper church, with a central bell tower. The facade of the church faces onto the avenue. The lower church covers an area of 820 square meters, while the upper church covers 1960 square meters.

Tympanum

• 
  The facade and tympanum, illustrating the life of Saint Peter
• 
  Close-up of the facade.

One of the most remarkable features of the church is the triangular tympanum on the facade, sculpted by [[Henri Bouchard (1875-1960). The sculpture on the left side illustrates the life of [[Saint Peter] during the life of Christ. The sculpture on the right shows events in the life of Peter after the Crucifixion of Christ, up until his own crucifixion upside-down, shown at eh bottom right.

Interior

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  The nave and choir, brightly lit
• 
  View of nave toward the portal, with fresco by Nicholas Untersteller, brightly lit
• 
  Chapel of the Sacred Heart(normal lighting)

Gallery

• 
  Chapel of the Sacred Heart.
• 
  Chapel of the Virgin.
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  Interior view of the dome over the Altar.
• 
  The organ of the choir.
• 
  The Great organ.
• 
  The Altar.
• 
  The dome over the nave. Ceiling fresco by Pierre Ducos de la. Haille
• 
  Stained glass windows.
• 
  The doors.
• 
  The Crypt in the basement.
• 
  Ceiling fresco be Pierre Ducos de la Haille.
• 
  Saint John on the ceiling of the crypt.
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  Painting of Saint Luke.
• 
  Saint Mark in the crypt.
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  Saint Matthew painted on the ceiling of the crypt.
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  Entrance to the crypt.
• 
  Painting of the Bible verse Mark 16:18 on the ceiling.
• 
  Painting of the Holy Spirit.

Bibliography

• Bertrand Lemoine and Lemoine Rivoirard, L'Architecture des années 30, Paris, éditions La Manufacture, 1987, 252 p. (ISBN 2737700027)
• André Deveche, L'église Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot de Paris, Paris, édition Sides, coll. « Les églises de Paris », 1990

External links

• https://eglise-chaillot.com/