Église Saint-Roch
Église Saint-Roch stands in Paris’s first arrondissement, with Baroque façades and a classical interior shaped across two centuries. Its 126-metre length makes the church one of Paris’s largest.
Construction began in 1653, when Louis XIV laid the first stone for Jacques Lemercier’s design. Financial difficulties interrupted the work. Jules Hardouin-Mansart resumed construction in 1701 and added the Chapel of the Virgin. The façade reached completion in 1739, combining Doric and Corinthian columns with Italian Baroque decoration. Inside, a Gothic floor plan meets a classical nave, lavish chapels, domes, and sculptures by Étienne-Maurice Falconet.
The French Revolution gave this sanctuary a place in political history, when Napoleon Bonaparte fired cannons here during 13 Vendémiaire. The building lost much of its artwork. It returned to religious use in 1801. Some restored works remain, alongside pieces transferred from churches destroyed during the Revolution. The grand organ, first built in 1752, was rebuilt in 1826.
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