"St. Peter Parish Chaillot dates back to the eleventh century. The present church was built in the 1930s, twice, and completed in 1938. It is the work of architect Emile Wood, then chief architect of the city of Paris. The old church, located in the same place but to a lesser extent, was destroyed twice during the construction of the new church. Funding for construction was donated entirely by the faithful.
The old church opened on the rue de Chaillot, only a chapel with a brick facade opened on Avenue Marceau. Nothing remains of the old church, where the funeral took place of Marcel Proust, November 21, 1922, except for a statue of the Virgin, the Virgin de Chaillot.
Initially, the new church was to be isolated, but the surrounding buildings were never destroyed.
The church was inaugurated on 18 May 1938 by Cardinal Verdier Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Baudrillard and the apostolic nuncio.
The Nunciature of Paris is located avenue du Président Wilson, at the bottom of the Avenue Marceau. St. Peter's Church is the parish Chaillot the apostolic nuncio. Thus between 1945 and 1953, Monsignor Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, many will attend the church.
In 1974, the choir organ was renovated by the organ builder Alfred Kern.
In 1990, the city of Paris launched an international competition for the construction of major organs that were built and installed in 1994 by the organ builder Daniel Birouste. Since 2001, a festival, the Festival Chaillot-Great Organs, takes place in the church every two years.
Architecture
Typical of the 1930s, the church recalls the Byzantine architecture and Romanesque but with geometry and mass of structures specific to the 1930s that allow concrete building. Among the decorative elements, we find sculptures's Henri Bouchard, canopies Mauméjean and frescoes by Moselle Nicolas Untersteller.
The church consists of three parts: a tower 62 meters high, which dominates the whole and on Avenue Marceau, bass, invisible church because it was built as a crypt above which rises the main church with a central tower. The building is also characterized by its monumental façade on the avenue.
The church has a low form of a Greek cross. It has an area of 820 m2 with large pillars supporting an inclined concrete vault. The overall appearance and the altar dedicated to the fallen of World War I give it an aspect of catacomb.
The upper church takes the form of a Greek cross. It has an area of 1,960 m2 and has a central dome surrounded by four smaller domes built on octagonal plan, recalling Byzantine art.
The tower and the facade connect all. This last, massive, comprises an entrance three arches surmounted by a tympanum carved by huge porch Henri Bouchard representing life Peter. The top of the façade opens onto a small row of square windows and two balconies giving it an air of a medieval fortification."
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