Zinaida Beaumont (Nous sommes Paris)
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris 2 - Marché de Noël / Christmas Market
Petites maisons du marché de Noël s'ouvrant progressivement sur le côté de Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Vue sur le transept, la nef et sur le chevet.
The little houses of a small Christmas market are opening on the side of Saint-Germain-des-Prés . View of the transept, the nave and the chevet.
History of Saint-Germain-des-Prés:
(please forgive my poor English) (version française est sur l'image précédente):
Clovis' son, Childerbert the First, ordered the construction of the first basilica (called basilica of St-Vincent and of the Holy Cross) in order to shelter some precious relics. It was consecrated in 558. St Germain was buried in 576 in a nearby chapel.
A monastery was founded that same century near the church. The monks chose the benedictine rule in 1024. This basilica was the first royal necropolis, before Saint-Denis. Childebert I, Chilperic I, the famous Fredegonde and Clotaire II and other members of the Merovingian dynasty, were buried there.
Saint Germain's corpse was translated in the church in 756, in presence of Pepin the Brief and of the future Charles the Great. The church was called since then by the name of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (St-Germain-of-the-Fields) only.
The church and its tower were rebuilt around the year 1000. The nave too was constructed at that time. In 1163 the pope Alexander III dedicaced the new gothic sanctuary, with its ambulatory and its radiant chapels; they replaced the old choir.
During the XVIIth century, the abbey became the mother-house of the Benedictine congregation of Saint-Maur and one of the greatest intellectual center of France. It was the time of Mabillon and, later, of the abbé Prévost (author of "Manon Lescaut").
The church was closed and the abbatial buildings sold in 1792 during the French Revolution. The cult was restored in 1803.
Of the big monastery, today we only have the abbatial palate and the church itself : tower, porch, roman portal (mutilated in 1607 to add another porch), choir, nave, ambulatory, radiant chapels and axe chapel (rebuilt in 1819) . The whole dates from the roman period (XI+XII) and is Paris' oldest religious building.
The remains of the philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) and the classic writter Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711) were transfered there in 1819.
10 décembre 2009 à 10h57.
I thank Wikipedia for the help about historical details
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris 2 - Marché de Noël / Christmas Market
Petites maisons du marché de Noël s'ouvrant progressivement sur le côté de Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Vue sur le transept, la nef et sur le chevet.
The little houses of a small Christmas market are opening on the side of Saint-Germain-des-Prés . View of the transept, the nave and the chevet.
History of Saint-Germain-des-Prés:
(please forgive my poor English) (version française est sur l'image précédente):
Clovis' son, Childerbert the First, ordered the construction of the first basilica (called basilica of St-Vincent and of the Holy Cross) in order to shelter some precious relics. It was consecrated in 558. St Germain was buried in 576 in a nearby chapel.
A monastery was founded that same century near the church. The monks chose the benedictine rule in 1024. This basilica was the first royal necropolis, before Saint-Denis. Childebert I, Chilperic I, the famous Fredegonde and Clotaire II and other members of the Merovingian dynasty, were buried there.
Saint Germain's corpse was translated in the church in 756, in presence of Pepin the Brief and of the future Charles the Great. The church was called since then by the name of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (St-Germain-of-the-Fields) only.
The church and its tower were rebuilt around the year 1000. The nave too was constructed at that time. In 1163 the pope Alexander III dedicaced the new gothic sanctuary, with its ambulatory and its radiant chapels; they replaced the old choir.
During the XVIIth century, the abbey became the mother-house of the Benedictine congregation of Saint-Maur and one of the greatest intellectual center of France. It was the time of Mabillon and, later, of the abbé Prévost (author of "Manon Lescaut").
The church was closed and the abbatial buildings sold in 1792 during the French Revolution. The cult was restored in 1803.
Of the big monastery, today we only have the abbatial palate and the church itself : tower, porch, roman portal (mutilated in 1607 to add another porch), choir, nave, ambulatory, radiant chapels and axe chapel (rebuilt in 1819) . The whole dates from the roman period (XI+XII) and is Paris' oldest religious building.
The remains of the philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) and the classic writter Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711) were transfered there in 1819.
10 décembre 2009 à 10h57.
I thank Wikipedia for the help about historical details