The Église Saint-Paul is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

located in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is situated in the

Vieux Lyon The Vieux Lyon ( en, Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an ar ...

, in the Saint-Paul quarter, in the

5th arrondissement of Lyon The 5th arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. History The 5th arrondissement was created on 24 March 1852 (date of creation of the first five arrondissements). It is the historic center of Lyon. It is at ...

. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

is in the Romanesque and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

architectural styles. The tower-lantern was classified as '' monument historique'' in 1920, and the whole church was classified in 1996. In 2002, the church was completely renovated. It is around 45 m long and 16.5 m high under the arch.

History

Built around 549 by the Lyon bishop Saint Sacerdos, the church was damaged in 732, then restored in the early 9th century by archbishop Leidrade. In the 10th century, it became a necropolis with three cemeteries. Archbishop

Hugh of Die Hugh of Die ( 1040 – October 7, 1106) was a French Catholic bishop. Biography Hugh was prior of the monastery of Saint-Marcel in Chalon-sur-Saône. On October 19, 1073, he became bishop of Die, Drôme and on March 9, 1074 received his episcopal ...

requested its reconstruction, which was accomplished during the 11th and 12th centuries (the bell tower in 1440). The church was damaged during the siege of the city by the Baron of Adrets, then during the revolution in 1793, after which it was transformed into a

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitra ...

store and became a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in 1801. Many changes were made to the church during the 19th century, including the removal of saltpetre soil and the paving, along with numerous additions: the lantern of the top of the octagonal tower in 1835, the Gothic portal in 1877, paintings by

Paul Borel André Marie Paul Borel (12 February 1828, Lyon - 26 January 1913, Lyon) was a French painter and engraver; specializing in historical and religious scenes. Biography He was born to a family of merchants. His father died when he was ten, so ...

added to the choir in 1899, the eleven bells of the bell tower, and so forth.

Architecture

The Gothic style appeared in the bell tower-porch and in the side chapels. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is composed of four bays with four carved capitals pillars. The current 24-meter stone

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

which tops the tower disappeared in 1818, was replaced by another one in wood in 1875, and was finally rebuilt in 1982. A gallery in quatrefoils, a rose window and shields compose 19th century western facade. The smallest bell, called Eleanor and was made in 1626. The lower bell weighs over four tons was cast in Lyon by Gédéon Morel and is the most decorated one in the world. There are 16 small chapels along the aisles of the church. The first one of them appeared after 1470. The most notorious is that of the baptismal fronts, from the 16th century, by Jean Palmier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Saint-Paul

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

5th arrondissement of Lyon 549 establishments 6th-century churches 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Monuments historiques of Lyon Romanesque architecture in France Gothic architecture in France