Saint Hippolytus Church, Paris, Gothic Revival church in 13th arrondissement, France.
Saint Hippolytus Church is a church building in the Gothic Revival style, featuring pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and soaring vertical lines throughout its interior. The structure showcases tall windows and slender columns that characterize the neo-Gothic aesthetic popular in early 20th-century Paris.
Architect Jules Astruc completed construction in 1924, creating a modern interpretation of medieval church architecture. The building arose during a period when Paris embraced neo-Gothic religious structures as expressions of both tradition and contemporary design.
The church is named for Saint Hippolytus, a Roman soldier, and also recalls Hippolyte Panhard, the automobile manufacturer who gave the land. A Latin inscription inside records its construction under Cardinals Amette and Dubois. On Monday mornings outside summer holidays, the parish runs the Café Saint-Hippolyte, a free social café open to all, especially people in precarious circumstances.
The church stands on Avenue de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement, in the heart of the Chinatown that grew up around it. The entrance is under the arched doorway inscribed "PAROISSE SAINT HIPPOLYTE". A social café, the café Saint-Hippolyte, welcomes everyone free of charge on Monday mornings outside the summer holidays.
Under the porch, a 1936 fresco by Henri Marret shows Hippolytus, a Roman soldier, torn apart by two grey horses, while his prisoner Lawrence burns in the background. Grime and pollution darkened it for 90 years; the Prix Pèlerin 2025 funded its restoration in April and May 2026.
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