Saint Séverin Church in the Latin Quarter
Saint Séverin Church is nestled in the heart of the Latin Quarter, a stone’s throw from the Church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.
Renowned as one of the most beautiful churches in Paris, it boasts a remarkable blend of architectural styles and artistic features, and is thus one of the 25 Paris churches I have selected for you!
It also has an exceptional collection of stained-glass, spanning from the 15th century to the present day, blending colourful contemporary creations with older installations.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the church is its double ambulatory, where ten double bays of palm-shaped pillars, evoking a palm grove, surround a twisted column pillar, inspired by the columns of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. This style was brought back from the Holy Land during the Crusades.
Saint Séverin Church through the centuries
The chapel, built in the 6th century to replace the humble oratory where the hermit Severin used to pray, was destroyed by the Vikings during the siege of Paris in 885-886.
The church was rebuilt in the 13th and 14th centuries, at the height of the Gothic style, and a side aisle was added to accommodate the growing number of students in the Latin Quarter.
These students initially attended the Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre church, but their growing number necessitated a larger place of worship.
The church was partially destroyed by fire in the mid-15th century, but was rebuilt and widened due to a lack of space at the front and rear, giving it its distinctive architecture.
The side chapels of the apse were built between 1489 and 1520 in the purest Flamboyant Gothic style.
Saint Séverin Church underwent further expansions and transformations up until the 17th century.
It thus blends different architectural styles, with Gothic being predominant. However, of the original structure, only the first three bays of the nave and the lower level of the bell tower remain.
The architect Hardouin-Mansart also built the oval-shaped Chapelle du Saint-Sacrement (Blessed Sacrament) on the right side of the church.
A few years later, the Duchess of Orléans, cousin of King Louis XIV, commissioned the building’s modernisation and renovation. She entrusted Charles le Brun to transform the original chancel’s Gothic arcades into Classical-style semicircular arches.
He adorned the pillars with pink marble fascia and marmosets, then a common practice to mask the junction where the pillars had been extended during the elevation of the nave. Marmosets, usually depicted in pairs, symbolise monks or prophets who often hold feathers.
However, two 13th-century keystones in the Chapel of the Virgin Mary and a 15th-century fresco depicting the Last Judgment were preserved.
The portal of the 13th-century Church of Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs, located on the Île de la Cité and demolished in 1837, was reassembled on the main facade.
Ten years later, the greatest artists of the time were commissioned to create a series of frescoes.
A decade later, the greatest artists of the time were commissioned to create a series of murals.
Saint Séverin Church boasts several remarkable funerary works of art, including the Black Heart bearing the epitaph of Catherine de Brinon and her daughter Catherine de Canteleu, who died in 1699. The family had contributed to the upkeep of the church since 1491.
There is also the tombstone of former parishioner Nicolas de Beaumont, depicted with his wife and their fifteen children kneeling before Christ.
The church possesses masterpieces of the 17th-century French school of painting, including a painting by Claude Vignon depicting Saint Paul the Apostle meditating; a replica of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, bequeathed to the church by a Polish parishioner in 1840; The original painting is located in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The chapel located to the left of the sacristy is dedicated to Sainte Thérèse of the Child Jesus and contains a cast of a statue of Saint Thérèse by Paul Landowski.
Finally, the impressive 18th-century organ, built by Jean Ferrand, makes the Saint Séverin hurch an important centre for sacred music.
Saint Séverin Church’s stained-glass windows
Stained glass windows are another exceptional decorative element.
The Gothic stained-glass windows in the chancel date from the 15th century. They are remarkably well preserved and harmonise perfectly with the rose window located above the west entrance.
Émile Hirsch produced most of the stained-glass windows in the south chapels between 1875 and 1900. These windows were generously funded by wealthy parishioners who, in exchange for their financial support, served as models for scenes from the lives of saints or the Gospels.
Among the faces, you might recognise Charles Garnier, the architect of the Opéra House, who lived nearby and attended services at Saint Séverin Church.
In 1970, Jean Bazaine created seven contemporary coloured stained-glass windows for the side chapels of the chancel and double ambulatory. The theme of these stained-glass windows are the Seven Sacraments. They bring a touch of modernity and dynamism to the church’s decor but are not to everyone’s taste. Some consider them too contemporary.
Sainte-Ursule’s relics
Saint Séverin Church is the custodian of the relics of Saint Ursule, patron saint of the neighbouring Sorbonne University.
According to legend, Ursule, daughter of a Christian king of Britain in the late 3rd century, refused to marry a pagan Germanic prince and fled with her attendants. Their voyage took them on a pilgrimage to Rome, then to Cologne, Germany, where they were captured, tortured, and martyred by the Huns.
In the 12th century, the skeletons of several young people were discovered near Cologne and instantly identified as those of Ursule and her attendants.
This discovery revived the legend of Ursule, and her relics were distributed to various Christian communities throughout Europe, including Saint-Séverin Church.
Saint Séverin Church – exterior
The west portal of the Saint Séverin Church dates from the 13th century and has a unique history.
It was originally part of the Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs Church, located on the Île de la Cité and dismantled in the 1830s.
The sculpture that adorns this portal represents Saint Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar, symbolising the virtue of charity.
As for the bell tower, cast in 1412, it houses one of the oldest bells in Paris!
Finally, the former church’s ossuary has been integrated into a Gothic gallery that was part of the cloister. In the Middle Ages, it was common in large cities to move the bones of the deceased a few months after burial to free up space for new graves.
Directions: 5th District
Metro: Saint-Michel on Line 4
Coordinates: Lat 48.852242 – Long 2.345475
