Well back to the lonely period we are cruising thru and decided to look back deep into my blog to update some older posts that needs it. After several years, some of these posts gets very updated and the links fade away. Therefore, here is my updated post on the Church Saint Séverin of Paris!
I have told folks many times there is so much to see in Paris alone to last you a lifetime! I do have several posts on Paris in my blog and numerous sites but there is always some new ones found! And this one was so close to very well known places like the Place St Michel amazing never dwell into it. Until now! Let the feet do the walking and you will be amazed of what you see in Paris, and I only give you the general views, details need a book lol! Let me tell you something about the Church of Saint Séverin of Paris! I really only wanted to go to St Michel for lunch but there you go once parked in the indigo place st michel parking and started walking new things pop out as usually the case when walking…The Church of Saint-Séverin is located in the Latin Quarter at 3 rue des Prêtres-Saint-Séverin in the 5éme arrondissement or district of Paris, near the Seine river and place St Michel.
The ensemble formed by the church, as the parish house – presbytery, at the place André-Lefèbvre and the cloister is bounded by the rue des Prêtres-Saint-Séverin, rue Parcheminerie, rue Saint-Jacques and the rue Saint-Séverin. As a parish seat from the 9C, the Saint-Séverin Church is one of the 52 parishes of the Paris Diocese when the property of the clergy was confiscated in the French revolution of 1789-90. Its priest is then one of the two archpriests of the diocese. It is de facto the only parish Church of Saint-Séverin-Saint-Nicolas Parish (the two parishes were merged in 1968).
A bit of history I like ,briefly…
In the 6C, a hermit, Séverin (Saint Séverin of Paris), has the habit of praying in a small rudimentary oratory. After his death, a basilica is erected on the spot. It is first of all a chapel. 9C ,destroyed by the Vikings during the siege of Paris, the church is rebuilt in the 13C for the bell tower and the first three bays of the nave and the second half of the 15C for the rest. In 1412 , casting of one of the bells ; it is today the oldest in Paris and bears the name of Macée . In 1487 the completion of the spire of the tower. By 1489-1495, the construction of the chevet. By 1498-1520, the realization of the side chapels of the nave. In 1673, Jules Hardouin-Mansart removes three spans of the mass grave to raise, on the right side of the church, the oval Chapel of Communion. By 1681-1684, Jean-Baptiste Tuby realizes a marble decoration of the choir on a drawing of Charles Le Brun, works financed by donations of the Duchess Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orleans, called the Grand Mademoiselle, cousin of king Louis XIV. In 1745, the organ buffet is done.
The architectural interest of the church also lies in its mass grave, former parish cemetery. The Church Saint-Séverin indeed has the peculiarity, exceptional in Paris, to have preserved almost intact the site of its cemetery and its charnel house. This cemetery, opened around 1250, was surrounded on three sides by a gallery, similar to that of a cloister, built around 1430, which was used both as a mass grave and as a residence for the priests of the parish, with floors dedicated. But in 1674 the church wardens decided to prohibit burials and close the mass graves, the whole then becoming a simple cloister. The bays of the gallery were decorated with stained glass windows a few years later, in 1699. In 1926, a building with ogival windows was built in their place to serve as presbytery, which made it possible to remove the two upper floors reserved for housing. priests. Today this ensemble is now transformed into a nice garden.
The inside has a 17 meters high, flamboyant nave decorated with stained glass windows from the 19C. With 8 bays, it has the shape of a parallelogram ending in a semicircular apse. This Church of Saint Séverin contains a collection of stained glass windows, staged over seven centuries. The church contains Gothic windows, including a Jesse tree, stained glass windows of the 19C, and a set of several modern windows along the ambulatory, inspired by the seven Sacraments. They are from the second half of the 15C. In the rosette of the west facade is the Tree of Jesse which is a stained glass window from 1482, largely concealed by the organ buffet since the 18C. A series of 8 stained glass windows to be inaugurated on May 10, 1970, replacing those of the 19C in the Gothic windows of the ambulatory. The church has many murals from different periods of the15C, 17C, and the 19C.
The official parish of Church Saint Séverin: https://saint-severin.com/visite-de-leglise/visiter-leglise/
The Paris tourist office on the Church Saint Séverin: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71119/Paroisse-Saint-Severin
There you go folks,the Church Saint Séverin is on a nice quant area of narrow streets full of shops a lovely walk indeed while the hordes were concentrating on Notre Dame Cathedral not far away. Worth the detour indeed, we like it .Hope you enjoy the post and do visit.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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