Church of Saint-Sulpice, Catholic church in 6th arrondissement, Paris, France.
Saint-Sulpice is a Catholic parish church on Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris's 6th arrondissement. Its west facade has a double colonnade, Ionic over Roman Doric, with loggias behind, and two towers that differ: Jean-François Chalgrin rebuilt the north tower taller in 1777–1780, while the south tower was never replaced. A balustrade replaced Servandoni's pediment after lightning struck it in 1770.
Construction started in 1646 when a priest founded a seminary on this site, and six different architects contributed to its completion over 134 years. The building replaced a medieval chapel that had become too small for the growing parish.
The church is dedicated to Sulpitius the Pious, a seventh-century archbishop of Bourges. Its Great Organ, with titular organists including Charles-Marie Widor (1870–1934) and Marcel Dupré, is among the most significant in the world. Since the 2019 Notre-Dame fire, it has hosted major diocesan ceremonies.
Visitors can attend organ recitals every Sunday and explore the interior with its wall paintings and a brass line on the floor. Admission is free, but it is advisable to come outside service times to view the building at leisure.
A brass line on the floor serves as a gnomon, an astronomical tool from 1727 used to calculate the date of Easter. Sunlight strikes marks along this line on specific days of the year, indicating solstices and equinoxes.
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