P1300734 Paris V place de la Sorbonne rwk

Chapelle Sainte-Ursule de la Sorbonne, Paris 001

The Chapel of Sainte Ursule de la Sorbonne, also known as the Sorbonne Chapel, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

chapel located on the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

historical site, in the Latin quarter of Paris. It was rebuilt in the 17th century by order of

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

Background

The chapel was built as part of

's reconstruction project in the 17th century, and is the only structure from the project that survives. The project started in 1627, with work on the chapel beginning in 1635 and completed in 1642, the year of Richelieu's death. The previous chapel was demolished (shown today as an outline on the floor of the

cour d'honneur A ''cour d'honneur'' (; ; german: Ehrenhof) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block (''corps de logis''), sometimes wit ...

of the Sorbonne), and the new chapel was established on the site of the former collège de Calvy. The architect was

Jacques Lemercier Jacques Lemercier (c. 1585 in Pontoise – 13 January 1654 in Paris) was a French architect and engineer, one of the influential trio that included Louis Le Vau and François Mansart who formed the classicizing French Baroque manner, drawing ...

and the dome was painted by

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Brabançon-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art ...

, while

François Girardon François Girardon (10 March 1628 – 1 September 1715) was a French sculptor of the Louis XIV style or French Baroque, best known for his statues and busts of Louis XIV and for his statuary in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Biography ...

sculpted Richelieu's tomb which originally stood in the church. The chapel's northern side faces the cour d'honneur inside the Sorbonne building, and its western side faces the Sorbonne square and Victor Cousin street. In 1887 it was registered as a national historical monument, joined in 1975 by other structures of the Sorbonne complex.

References

{{Coord, 48.84843, 2.34318, format=dms, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Roman Catholic chapels in France Roman Catholic churches in the 5th arrondissement of Paris University and college chapels