The Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, on the banks of the Saône, quai Saint-Vincent, in the

1st arrondissement of Lyon The 1st arrondissement of Lyon () is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. It is located below the hill of Croix-Rousse and on the north part of the Presqu'île formed by the Saône and the Rhône, the two rivers in Lyon. Thi ...

. In 1984, it was classified as

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

History

The church was built by Augustinian monks in 1759, when they were present in the area from the fourteenth century. The plans of the church were drawn by Léonard Roux. It was finally completed on 4 June 1789 by Joseph Janin, and was called Église Saint-Louis, as tribute to Louis Le Dauphin, who had contributed financially to its construction. A book called "Book of Accounts" was written to trace the entire history of the construction of the church. It took its current name in 1863. In 1793, the church served as

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

, then

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

and

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

. In 1933, Mortamet restored the church. In 1941, a number of Lyon Catholics, Protestants and agnostics met fortnightly in the crypt of the Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent to discuss in depth Hitler's ''

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

''. On 12 December 1987, the church was destroyed by fire, but was reopened on 29 November 1992 after a major renovation. The organ, installed on the platform, was inaugurated on 26 March 1995. Lyon-Notre Dame de Saint Vincent

Architecture

Inside, there are 18 cylindrical columns in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and large rectangular windows in the dome. The facade of the church, decorated with a statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and a frieze, was made by Charles Dufraine and has a round arch and two Ionic columns.

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Notre Dame Saint-Vincent Roman Catholic churches in Lyon 1st arrondissement of Lyon Churches completed in 1789 1759 establishments in France Monuments historiques of Lyon