David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Paris, France 2000 – Church of Saint-Sulpice

In the summer of 2000, the college class chorus I sang with made a concert tour of Europe, and one of the sites visited was Paris, France. The group had a day of individual sightseeing, and I went to the Church of Saint-Sulpice, because I like big formal churches and it is one of the more famous.

Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris is one of the city’s largest churches, being only slightly smaller than Notre Dame Cathedral. The present church at Saint-Sulpice is the second building on the site, erected over a Romanesque church originally constructed during the 13th century. Additions were made over the centuries, up to 1631. The new building was founded in 1646 by parish priest Jean-Jacques Olier (1608–1657). Initial construction of Saint-Sulpice Church took nearly a century to complete, finally consecrated in the name of Saint Sulpitius the Pious.

The church is famous for its incredible Organ. In 1862, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll rebuilt the existing organ built by François-Henri Clicquot. Though using many materials from Clicquot's French Classical organ, it is considered to be Cavaillé-Coll's magnum opus, featuring 102 speaking stops on five manuals and pedal, and is perhaps the most impressive instrument of the romantic French symphonic-organ era.

And now, my photos. These were originally taken with one of my film SLR camera, on Ektachrome slide film. They were subsequently scanned with an inexpensive scanner and have had a couple of iterations with various post-processing tools, the most recent being a redo with Lightroom today. They are, unfortunately, somewhat grainy, but they are illustrative.

15-00 Saint-Sulpice Church by David Casteel, on Flickr (exterior of the church)

15-09 Saint-Sulpice Church Nave by David Casteel, on Flickr (view toward the Chancel)

15-01 Saint-Sulpice Church interior by David Casteel, on Flickr (nearing the Altar)

15-04 Saint-Sulpice Church altar by David Casteel, on Flickr (closer view of the main Altar)

15-03 Saint-Sulpice Church interior by David Casteel, on Flickr (one of the Transepts)

15-02 Saint-Sulpice Church organ, considered the finest by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll by David Casteel, on Flickr (the famous Cavaillé-Coll Organ)

15-05 Saint-Sulpice Church interior by David Casteel, on Flickr (two statues on a support column—I don’t know who they are)

15-06 Saint-Sulpice Church interior by David Casteel, on Flickr (two more statues—I don’t know who they are, either)

15-07 Saint-Sulpice Church crucifix by David Casteel, on Flickr (large Crucifix backed by a lovely window)

15-08 Saint-Sulpice Church window by David Casteel, on Flickr (upper portion of a beautiful window)

15-10 Saint-Sulpice Church interior by David Casteel, on Flickr (another interior view)

15-11 Saint-Sulpice Plaza fountain of the Four Bishops (this of Bishop Fénelon) by David Casteel, on Flickr (Fountain of the Four Bishops in the Place Saint-Sulpice--this of Bishop Fénelon)

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Beautiful spot
Thanks for sharing

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Thank you very much! You're welcome.