Madeleine Church

A church with no belfry? No cross? No chapel? Why does this church look more like Greece’s Parthenon temple? This is another monument in Paris with a story reflecting the changes of its time. It all started with Louis XV who commissioned in 1757 a new church for that neighbourhood of Paris. The first stone for the foundation was laid down by the king himself 6 years later.

Then, the architect passing away halted the construction in 1777. A second architect intended to redesign the future church and that’s when the French Revolution started. At this point, churches were not being built, but rather looted and desecrated.

Fast forward to Napoleon’s architects who came up with several projects: the siege for the Banque de France, the stock exchange or a temple dedicated to the armies. The project for the latter was almost finished when in 1812, Napoleon decided the Madeleine should be a church. And so it is.