Chapelle Saint-Bernard-de-Montparnasse, Catholic chapel at Montparnasse railway station, Paris, France
Chapelle Saint-Bernard-de-Montparnasse sits in the basement of Montparnasse station, entered through a door on the left of the facade beneath the left clock when facing from place Raoul-Dautry. Its sober interior by sculptor Pierre de Grauw has an altar and a wheel-shaped tabernacle, both carved from railway sleepers, plus a crucified Christ without a separate cross and a prophet serving as ambo.
Victor Bucaille, put in charge of planning the "new Montparnasse station" by the Paris Council in 1954, wanted at least one Paris station to have a place of worship. The chapel, the only one inside a Paris station, opened in September 1969, after the Second Vatican Council. It is dedicated to Saint Bernard in memory of Bucaille's son, who died in 1946.
The chapel is named for Saint Bernard, in memory of Victor Bucaille's son, who died in 1946. In the 1970s it hosted social movements, notably during the 1975 prostitutes' revolt. Weekday welcome, readings and meetings accompany the weekend services.
The chapel closed in 2018 for failing safety standards, and the Diocese of Paris decided on 12 October 2024 to close it permanently, so it can no longer be visited. The entrance, when it operated, was in the station's lower levels, through a door left of the facade beneath the left clock as seen from place Raoul-Dautry.
The chapel closed in 2018 for failing safety standards, and the Diocese of Paris decided on 12 October 2024 to close it permanently. Before that, in the 1970s, it hosted social campaigners, including during the 1975 prostitutes' revolt. It remains the only chapel built inside a Paris railway station.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,664 contributors worldwide.