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Retrace your steps to the Boulevard St-Michel and turn right, follow it until you come to rue St-Séverin and turn right again and the church of St-Séverin will be straight in front of you. Built at the beginning of the 13th century on the site of an earlier chapel which dated from 650, this is one of the most beautiful churches in Paris and an excellent example of the Gothic style. It was finally completed in 1530 and contains some excellent stained glass dating from the end of the 14th and early 15th centuries. The interior also includes a remarkable double ambulatory which circles the chancel. Named after a 6th-century hermit who lived in the area, he is reputed to have been responsible for encouraging St Cloud, the grandson of King Clovis, to take holy orders. The chancel was modernised after the Grande Mademoiselle, a cousin of Louis XIV, adopted the church as her parish church after breaking with St-Sulpice in 1684.
A small garden accessible from the church’s interior stands on what used to be burial grounds and there is also a medieval gable-roofed charnel house here. The church frequently hosts concerts. Nearby at No. 22 rue St-Séverin you will find what is reputed to be the narrowest house in Paris. It used to be the residence of Abbé Prévost, the author of Manon Lescaut.
St-Séverin
Opening times: 11am–7.30pm daily
Tel: 01. 42 34 93 50
Did You Know?
The garden of St-Séverin was the site of the first operation ever for gall stones. This took place in 1474 after King Louis XI offered an archer who had been condemned to death the chance of freedom if he consented to it. He did, and it was a success – the archer went free, and was cured in the bargain.
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Leave St-Séverin and turn right and right again, then keeping the side of the church on your right, follow it and you will see St-Julien-le-Pauvre in front of you after the junction with rue St-Jacques. Built between 1165 and 1240, this is one of the oldest churches in the city.
Located at a strategic point, adjacent to the central islands and between the two main routes south to Orleans and Lyons, it is a surprisingly modest structure. There are at least three saints who can claim to be its patron, but St Julian Hospitaller is the most likely. It was used for university meetings until 1524, when a student protest created so much damage that they were banned from using the church by an act of parliament. It was used as
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