Church of St. Sulpice / Église Saint-Sulpice - Paris (France)
N 48° 51.055 E 002° 20.019
31U E 451116 N 5411097
Saint-Sulpice is a huge, Late Baroque parish church located in the fashionable neighborhood of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. It recently became even more popular with tourists than usual thanks to its prominent role in the novel "The Da Vinci Code"...
Waymark Code: WM6FJN
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 05/26/2009
Views: 39
The Church of St-Sulpice was founded by the Society of St. Sulpice to replace a cramped Gothic structure. It was constructed in several campaigns between 1646-1745.
Saint Sulpicius, after whom the church is named, was a 7th century bishop of Bourges in Aquitaine noted for his piety and his resistance to the tyranny of the Merovingian kings of France. Known as the "Cathedral of the Rive Gauche," Saint-Sulpice has seen some unlikely christenings over the years — including those of the Marquis de Sade and the poet Charles Baudelaire — as well as the wedding of the irreverent author Victor Hugo.
19th-century redecorations to the interior, after some Revolutionary damage (when St. Sulpice became a Temple of Victory), include work by Eugène Delacroix.
The main attractions of St. Sulpice are the Delacroix frescoes in the Chapelle des Anges (Chapel of the Angels), the first on your right as you enter. If you like his work, you can see more at the Musée Delacroix, also in Paris. Another masterpiece of St. Sulpice is Servandoni's rococo Chapelle de la Madone (Chapel of the Madonna), with a Pigalle statue of the Virgin.
The church's organ is one of the world's largest, comprising 6,700 pipes, and has been played by musicians like Marcel Dupré and Charles-Mari Widor. It is located in a rear chapel and provides the setting for a violent attack in The Da Vinci Code.
Da Vinci Code fans will especially be interested in the narrow brass strip called the Rose Line that the monk uses as a reference point in his quest for the Grail. Look for one end of the Rose Line near the middle of the nave on the right side, near a stone statue with a Latin inscription. From there, you can retrace the monk's path north across the nave and transept to an obelisk next to the statue of St. Peter. The obelisk contains a Latin inscription that doesn't quote Job, but refers to the use of the gnomon...