St-Merry (Paris)
The Roman Catholic parish church of Saint-Merry or Saint-Merri was built at the beginning of the 16th century in the late Gothic style on the site of a chapel from the 7th century. St. Medericus , after whom the church is named, was buried there around 700 . The entrances are at 76 rue de la Verrerie and 78 rue Saint-Martin in the 4th arrondissement of Paris . The nearest metro stations are Hôtel de Ville or Châtelet on lines 1 , 4 and 11 . In 1862 the church was added to the list of French cultural monuments as Monument historique .
history
According to legend, in the 7th century St. Medericus, later called Merry, settled as a hermit near a chapel consecrated to the Apostle Peter , in which he was buried after his death. At the beginning of the 10th century, a church dedicated to the two saints, Peter and Medericus, was built in its place, which was elevated to a parish church in the 11th century. The patronage of St. Peter has been forgotten over time. Saint Medericus became the patron saint of the Rive Droite , the urban area of Paris north of the Seine .
Another new building followed around 1200, which was replaced by the current building between 1515 and 1552. In 1612 the tower was raised by one floor. In the 18th century the church was rebuilt in the style of the time. The rood screen was torn down, the furniture was renewed and the renaissance windows were largely replaced by clear glass. From 1744, the communion chapel was built on the site of the ossuary from the 16th century according to the plans of the architect Germain Boffrand .
During the revolution of 1789 the church was closed and used as a saltpeter factory. There was also serious damage to the west facade in particular, the decorative figures of which were smashed. At times it was used as a temple by theophilanthropists until it was again used as a Roman Catholic church from 1803. The damage from the French Revolution was replaced by copies in the 1840s and 1850s. Figures and part of the building decoration were reproduced in cement and inserted into the gaps. Some of the figures are casts from the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral .
architecture
Although the construction of the church belongs to the Renaissance era, Saint-Merry is built in the late Gothic style, in the so-called Flamboyant style .
Exterior construction
The main entrance is on the west facade on Rue Saint-Martin. Two mighty buttresses separate the two side portals from the central portal. The square tower rises above the right side portal, which has been back to its original height of two floors since the fire of 1871. A narrow, octagonal tower above the left side portal has a bell from 1331, which is considered the oldest bell in Paris. The sculptures with leaf and animal friesen , finials and arcatures decorated façade were destroyed during the Revolution and in 1842 by Joseph Brun and Louis Desprez newly created (1799-1870).
inner space
The nave is covered with a ribbed vault and extends over five bays . A north and two south aisles adjoin the central nave. A frieze of foliage and animals runs beneath the top window , in which four reclining people can be seen: on the left, Saint Medericus and Moses , on the right, the apostles Peter and Aaron .
Under the north transept is the crypt with the bones of St. Medericus, which have been in a reliquary since 1884 .
The choir is almost the same length as the nave. The arched arcades and the pillars clad with marble and stucco , like the marble floor, go back to the baroque redesign in the 18th century. The painting of the chapels in the ambulatory dates from the 19th century.
Furnishing
The baptismal font bears the coat of arms of King Louis XII. and his wife Anna of Brittany .
The pulpit , the sound cover of which is crowned by an angel and supported by stylized palm trees, is a work of the 18th century.
The painting Saint Charles Borromeo by Carle van Loo was stolen from the church in 1970. The following paintings are in the church:
- Adoration of the name of God by the four saints Medericus, Petrus, Leonhard and Frudolph (Frou) by Simon Vouet (1590–1649) in the north transept
- Saint Merry frees the prisoners (1640) by Simon Vouet in the north transept
- Maria the Egyptian (1843), fresco by Théodore Chassériau (1819–1856) in the third chapel in the north ambulatory
- Mary with Child Jesus (1753) by Carle van Loo (1705–1765) at the right choir entrance
- The repentance of Peter (1784) by Joseph-Marie Vien (1716–1809) in the south transept
- Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (around 1683) by Noël Coypel (1628–1707) in the south transept
- The Emmaus disciples (1749) by Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694–1752) in the communion chapel
Leaded glass window
The upper stained glass windows of the nave and the choir date from the 16th century. On the north side of the nave they depict scenes from the life of Mary Magdalene , from the public appearance of Jesus, from the story of John the Baptist and the Apostle Thomas . The windows on the south side depict the life of St. Nicholas , Francis of Assisi , dedicated to Saint Agnes and the Virgin Mary. The upper northern choir windows are about the story of Joseph in Egypt. The southern choir windows depict scenes from the life of the apostle Peter.
The two windows in the apex chapel of the choir consist of 14 oval medallions each with figurative representations from the 16th century, which were restored and reassembled by Prosper Lafaye in the 19th century . The medallions of the left window depict five saints (the apostles Peter, Andrew and Paul, John the Baptist, St. Merry) and six sibyls in the lower area and the archangel Michael who defeated the dragon and the disciples on the Mount of Olives in the upper area . On the medallions of the right window, scenes from the life of Mary are depicted, three sibyls and a bishop. A medallion at the top is dedicated to Christ on the Mount of Olives .
The central windows of the apse are about the Resurrection of Christ and were made in the 19th century from the cartons by Claudius Lavergne . In the center, the risen Christ is depicted in a mandorla , above which the Holy Spirit and God the Father hover. The side scenes depict the encounter of Jesus after his resurrection with Maria Magdalena ( Noli me tangere ) and the unbelieving Thomas.
Organs
The organ was built by Jean and François de Heman from 1647 to 1650. The organ front , which is supported by two angel figures, dates from the same time and is the work of the master carpenter Germain Pilon (also Pillon). The organ gallery was created in 1755 by Michel-Ange Slodtz (1705–1764). It rests on four fluted wooden pillars with Ionic capitals . In 1779 the organ was enlarged by François-Henri Clicquot . It was rebuilt from 1855 to 1857 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and in 1947 by Victor Gonzalez .
From 1853 to 1857 the composer Camille Saint-Saëns was organist in the parish church of Saint-Merry. Other organists were Nicolas Antoine Lebègue , Jean-François Dandrieu , Charles-Alexis Chauvet and Norbert Dufourcq .
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- Link : I / II, III / II, IV / II, III / I, IV / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
The choir organ was built in 1880 by the organ builder Merklin and revised in 1968 by the organ builder Gonzalez. The instrument has 16 stops on 2 manuals and a pedal. The playing and stop actions are mechanical.
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
- Tremblant
Rectory
The rectory to the south of the main facade dates back to the 16th century and was rebuilt in 1731 by Jean-François Blondel (1683–1756).
literature
- Georges Brunel, Marie-Laure Deschamps-Bourgeon, Yves Gagneux: Dictionnaire des Églises de Paris. Éditions Hervas, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-903-118-77-9 , pp. 302-304.
- Jean Colson, Marie-Christine Lauroa (ed.): Dictionnaire des Monuments de Paris. Éditions Hervas, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-84334-001-2 , pp. 718-719.
- Aline Dumoulin, Alexandra Ardisson, Jérôme Maingard, Murielle Antonello: Paris D'Église en Èglise. Éditions Massin, Paris 2008, ISBN 978-2-7072-0583-4 , pp. 82-85.
- Elisabeth Pillet: Le vitrail à Paris au XIXe siècle. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2010, ISBN 978-2-7535-0945-0 , pp. 279-287.
Web links
- Orgues en France On the history of the church and its organ (French and English text)
- Medericus (Merry) In: Complete Saints Lexicon, Volume 4., Augsburg 1875, pp. 388-389.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Saint-Merri in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Ferdinand Werner : The long way to new building . Volume 1: Concrete: 43 men invent the future . Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2016. ISBN 978-3-88462-372-5 , pp. 279f.
- ↑ Information on the organ
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ′ 32.7 " N , 2 ° 21 ′ 3" E