The Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Location

It is located off the top of the Canebière, in the Thiers districtDominique Auzias, ''Marseille 2013 Petit Futé'',

Le Petit Futé Petit Futé (founded 1976) is a series of French travel guides broadly equivalent to the Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History ...

, 4 Apr 2013, p. 38

/ref>Jean Sévillia
Une foi à soulever la Canebière
''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', 18/04/2012 The exact address is 2-3 Cours Franklin Roosevelt, an avenue named for American President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

(1882–1945).Église Catholique à Marseille
/ref>>

History

It was built on a demolished convent and chapel of Reformed Augustinians, which explains why it is commonly known as "Les Réformés" despite being a Roman Catholic church. The church building itself was designed by the architect François Reybaud and the abbey Joseph-Guillaume Pougnet, and built from 1855 to 1886.André Segond, ''Marseille ville impériale'', Editions Autres Temps, 2010, p. 8

/ref> It is Gothic Revival architecture, neogothic, with

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two- or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture, woodworking, and ballistics. Etymology The French Orientalist Georges Séraphin Colin gives as ...

curbs in the ceiling. The architects took inspiration from the

Reims Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims (; ; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in the French city of the same name, the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and wa ...

and the

Amiens Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens (), or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administra ...

. The two arrows are 70 metre high. The bronze gates were designed by Caras-Latour, the high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was designed by Jules Cantini (1826-1916), and the stained windows were designed by

Édouard Didron Édouard Didron (1836-1902) was a French stained glass artist and art writer. Biography Early life Édouard Amedée Didron was born on 13 October 1836 in Paris. His father was Mr Fiot and his mother, Ms Didron. His uncle, the archeologist and ar ...

(1836-1902). Additionally, sculptor

Louis Botinelly Louis Botinelly (26 January 1883 – 28 March 1962) was a French sculptor. Biography Personal life Botinelly was born on 2 January 1883 in Digne-les-Bains, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. He died on 26 March 1962 in Marseille. Career He wa ...

(1883-1962) designed the statues of Joan of Arc and of Jesus. As for the organ pipes, they were made by

Joseph Merklin Joseph Merklin (17 February 1819 – 10 July 1905) was a Baden-born Organ (music), organ builder who later became a French citizen. By the time of his retirement in 1898, he was a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur and had built, restored, or repa ...

(1819–1905). In the 1980s, due to low attendance, it came under the threat of being demolished. However, in recent years, it has achieved record levels of mass attendance.

At present

The church building is open every day from 09.00 to 12.00 and from 13.00 to 16.30, except on Sundays. Mass is every weekday at 18.30. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it is also celebrated at 12:10. On Sunday mass is said at 10:30. On the last Sunday of November, Mass is said in

Provençal dialect Provençal (, , , ; or ) is a variety of Occitan, spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drôme and Gard. The term Provençal used to refer to the entire Occitan language, but more recently it has referred only to the variety of Occitan ...

to celebrate the santon traditionally used in Christmas cribs in houses in Provence. The current priest is Fr. Philippe Rochas

Gallery

Secondary sources

*Antoine Ricard, ''Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul à Marseille'' (impr. Vve P. Chauffard, 1867, 21 pages). *Félix Vérany, ''Les Augustins réformés et l'église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Marseille'' (J. Chauffard, 1885, 288 pages).Google Books
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Roman Catholic churches in Marseille 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Gothic Revival church buildings in France