Église Sainte-Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles, Catholic church in La Butte-aux-Cailles, Paris, France
Église Sainte-Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles is a Romano-Byzantine church designed by Prosper Bobin at the corner of rue de Tolbiac and rue Bobillot. Its light tan stone facade has two 55-metre towers, each with an octagonal belfry, flanking a central gable with a statue and a rose window. Above the wooden entrance doors, an inscription reads "SANCTA ANNA ORA PRO NOBIS".
Construction started in 1894 under architect Prosper Bobin and required special foundation work due to ground conditions in the area. The project took place during a period when the 13th arrondissement was undergoing significant urban change.
The 1938 stained glass by Charles Mauméjean, from the Mauméjean workshops, mixes geometric patterns with narrative scenes and fills the nave and choir with colour; the same workshops made the mosaics on the altars. The altar carries Breton symbols, a reminder of the Breton workers brought to the Gobelin tapestry works on the butte in 1662.
The church stands at the corner of Rue de Tolbiac and Rue Bobillot, at 188 Rue Tolbiac. Metro line 7 serves Tolbiac station, and Place d'Italie station is also on lines 5 and 6. The entrance portal faces the street, with the inscription "SANCTA ANNA ORA PRO NOBIS" carved above the wooden doors.
The two 55-metre towers are nicknamed Jules and Honorine, after Jules and Honorine Lombart, the chocolate-making couple whose donation paid for them. The facade itself, built from 1898 with their money, is known as the "chocolate facade".
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