Walking Paris is always sublime , enormous feeling of architecture and history all around you, and beauty. This is another dear area of mine ,walked with the family several times, and voilà saw this church and why not, a wonderful souvenir of my walks with the family in my eternal Paris. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Church Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou (or St Peter of the big pebble) is located at 92, rue Saint-Dominique in the 7éme arrondissement. A way of many walks by yours truly coming from the port de Suffren (see post) where we always went for events and gastronomy on the Seine river , Maxim’s boat (see post). We then decided to take a walk and found ourselves passing this church.
A bit of history I like
The Church of Saint-Pierre du Gros-Caillou, is a parish church in the neighborhood or quartier Gros Caillou of the 7éme arrondissement of Paris. The story goes that when Gros-Caillou had become a fairly large neighborhood, they felt the need to build a branch there of the Church Saint-Sulpice (see post), which was the parish of this neighborhood at the times. They took care of this project in 1652, but countless obstacles successively came to stop the works. Finally, in 1733, the foundation stone of this church was laid. Which was blessed under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and named by the inhabitants , Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Délivrance; it is however designated in the registers of the archbishopric under the name of Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou, branch of Saint-Sulpice. It was not entirely finished when the French revolution broke out and was then demolished. In 1822, a new church was erected on the same site and under the same name, which is beautifully simple with the first stone of the present church, was laid during the reign of king Louis XVIII and completed in 1826 on a plan inspired by the Roman basilicas. This antique style has been in vogue for the last decades of the Ancien Régime The Church Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou was enlarged with a side wing in 1905, then the axial chapel known as the Virgin in 1971.
The interior style of the Church of Saint Pierre du Gros Caillou is quite simple. You will see , however, the presence of some interesting paintings such as the Christ holding a child on his knees, 1840. Saint Pierre released from prison, 1834. and the most prominent done by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, Saint François meditating in solitude, Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Finally, the Chapel of the Virgin has a rarity: a Stations of the Cross made up of a long series of tangled branches and twigs which stretches along the walls and dates from 1953. There was an organ here circa 1850 nothing attest of one before and this one was sold in 1926. The organ was sadly in bad shape. A second organ was done circa 1925, but it too was demolished. The current organ was built in 1976, of neoclassical aesthetic. There is a second organ in the chapel built in 1972. The bell-tower shelters a ringing of 4 bells done in 1993; they were baptized on May 16, 1993. The names given are Clémence – 800 kg; Constance- 445 kg , Patience- 340 kg, and Prudence- 275 kg. In the church is placed, on the ground, the old bell: Louise-Sophie 320 kg done in 1826 and baptized on April 17, 1827.
The city of Paris on the Church St Pierre du Gros Caillou : https://www.paris.fr/lieux/eglise-saint-pierre-du-gros-caillou-19494
The official Parish of the Church St Pierre du Gros Caillou : https://www.stpierredugroscaillou.com/
This is the wonderful way to walk Paris and see these off the beaten path monuments ,and they are many. This is a nice area off the Avenue Bosquet (see post) ,the picturesque rue Cler, and walking straigh on Rue St Dominique you reach the marvelous lawns behind the Invalides,(see post), sublime walk. Hope you enjoy the Church Saint Pierre du Gros Caillou in my eternal Paris.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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