Church of St. Louis of France
 The Church of Saint Ludwig |
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| Construction year: | 1833-1835 |
| Inauguration: | June 17, 1849 |
| Architect : | Alexander Gilardi |
| Location: | 55 ° 45 '45.6 " N , 37 ° 37' 52.5" E |
| Purpose: | Catholic Church |
| Website: | saintlouisinmoscow.ru |
The Church of Saint Louis of France ( Russian Храм святого Людовика Французского , French Église Saint-Louis-des-Français de Moscou ) is a classicist church in the center of Moscow and one of currently only two open Catholic churches in the city. The church with the patronage of St. Louis of France was originally the national church of the French living in Moscow and was the only Catholic church in the city to remain open during the entire Soviet period.
Regular services and benefit organ concerts take place in the church. A Sunday school and a boy scout organization are affiliated with the church .
history
In 1789, the French living in Moscow obtained permission to build their own church. First a simple wooden church was built and on March 30, 1791 the French King Louis IX. consecrated. In 1833 the wooden church was removed again; In their place, the current building was built from 1833 to 1835 based on a design by Alessandro Gilardi . The new church was not consecrated until June 17, 1849.
Shortly before the revolution in 1917 , the French community had around 2,700 members. After the revolution the church was plundered several times; the dean was banished from the country. The church was never closed by the communist government and remained the only open Catholic church in Moscow from 1938 to 1999.
On April 13, 1991, Pope John Paul II established the Apostolic Administration for European Russia with the Apostolic Constitution Providi quae . The official inauguration of its first Apostolic Administrator Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz took place on May 28, 1991 in the Church of St. Louis.
The interior of the church was extensively renovated in the mid-1990s.
In the church services are held by both the (mainly French) Ludwigsgemeinde and the (mainly Russian) Peter and Paul Congregation, whose Peter and Paul Church was closed in 1938 and has not been returned to this day.
Architecture and interior design
The Church of St. Ludwig is a classicist three-aisled basilica . There is a portico made up of six columns in front of the main portal . Small bell towers adjoin it on both sides.
Above the main altar is a representation of the transfiguration of the Lord .
There are several statues on the side altar in the left aisle. In the middle there is a statue of St. Louis of France, on the left a statue of St. Bernard of Clairvaux , on the right a statue of St. Francis de Sales . Further to the right, on its own pedestal, there is a statue of St. Anthony of Padua . Two smaller statues depict the patron saints of France, Joan of Arc and Therese of Lisieux .
The side altar in the right aisle is dedicated to the Holy Mother of God . Here is a statue of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes .
Saint Joseph is depicted on the only surviving original window from 1883, which is located in the right aisle .
See also
Web links
- Official Website (Russian)
- History of the Church (Russian)