Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, in full Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for ''Church of Saint Julian the Poor''), is a

Melkite Greek Catholic el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and one of the city's oldest religious buildings. Begun in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

during the 12th century, with 13th century

High Gothic High Gothic is a particularly refined and imposing style of Gothic architecture that appeared in northern France from about 1195 until 1250. Notable examples include Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Amiens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and ...

additions, it is situated in the 5th arrondissement, on the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

of the

Seine River ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...

, about 500 meters away from the

Musée de Cluny The Musée de Cluny ("Cluny Museum", ), also known as Musée national du Moyen Âge – Thermes et hôtel de Cluny ("National Museum of the Middle Ages – Cluny thermal baths and mansion"), is a museum of the Middle Ages in Paris, ...

and in the proximity of the Maubert-Mutualité

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

station. It shares a city block with the Square René Viviani. Originally 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 let ...

place of worship, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was built in stages from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and granted to the

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", a ...

community in 1889. Its design was modified several times, and the resulting church is significantly smaller in size than originally planned.

Name

The church was dedicated to two medieval French saints of the same name:

Julian of Le Mans Saint Julian of Le Mans (french: Saint Julien du Mans; la, Iulianus; 3rd century; perhaps 4th century) is a saint venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, honored as the first bishop of Le Mans. His feast day is 27 January. The ...

and a figure from the region of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

.A. and W. Galignani, ''The History of Paris from the Earliest Period to the Present Day'', Paris, 1825, p.350-351 "The poor" is said to originate from Julian of Le Mans, whose dedication to the cause of the poor was considered exemplary.

History

Plan de Paris vers 1550 eglise St-Julien

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre replaced a 6th century oratory dedicated to Saint Julien de Broude, which was part of a

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

hospice which sheltered pilgrims without funds.Andrew Ayers, ''The Architecture of Paris'', Éditions Axel Menges, Stuttgart & London, p.103. "Paris", in William Westcott Kibler (ed.), ''Medieval France: An Encyclopedia'',

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, London, p.703. Extérieur de Saint-Julien le Pauvre, côté du nord

Eglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre - Dessin - Paris - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00007049

The earliest mention of such a site was found in texts authored by Gregory,

bishop of Tours The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Turonensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Tours'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd c ...

, who resided there in the 6th century during the rule of

Chilperic I Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, ...

, king of

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

. A

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

serving the Jewish residents, probably the oldest in the city, was located in its environs. The buildings were badly damaged in the 9th century during the Norman invasion. In about 1120 the building was ceded to the monks of Clunisian order from the Abbey of Longpoint. It first took the name of

, the first bishop of Mans, then later was dedicated to Saint

Julian the Hospitaller Julian the Hospitaller is a Roman Catholic saint, and the patron of the cities of Ghent and Macerata. History The earliest known reference to Julian dates to the late twelfth century.King Louis VII, the founder of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, and of

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Middle Ages#Art and architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris ...

. It was inspired by its contemporary, Notre Dame de Paris or the Saint Pierre de Montmartre church, The building effort was supported by the Clunaic monastic community of

Longpont Longpont () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is around 13 km southwest of Soissons, and around 75 km northeast of Paris. As at 2018 it has a population of 255. The former Longpont Abbey ...

. Their enterprise resulted in the completion of the choir and, most likely, 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-typ ...

(ca. 1210-1220). Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was designed in the conservative tradition prevalent during the rule of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Emma. He succeeded his father as the King of Saxony on 28 August 876 and his elder brother C ...

. The only one of the city's twelfth-century parish churches to have endured, it was never completed in its original design: the choir area was intended to be three stories high, and the

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

is an incomplete

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locat ...

; the nave was supposed to be covered by

sexpartite vault In architecture, a sexpartite vault is a rib vault divided into six bays by two diagonal ribs and three transverse ribs. The principal examples are those in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes and Abbaye-aux-Dames at Caen (which were probably the earliest ex ...

s, which were replaced by a wooden roof and, after the 17th century, by a new system of vaults; and, of a tower meant to stand on the church's southern side, only the staircase was begun. The eastern

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s use material from an older building. The church was closely associated with the nearby School of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, and then

, or Sorbonne College whose charter was confirmed by the Pope in 1215. For three centuries the parishioners of the church included the students and the eminent scholars of the university, including

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

, and the church was used as the meeting place for college assemblies. In the 17th century

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 ...

transferred the Sorbonne to a new campus and built a new chapel. the Saint Julien church entered a long decline. Two of the original

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

in the nave were demolished, and a northwestern facade was added. The northern aisle was preserved, and two of its bays serves as a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually locate ...

. In 1655 the church was downgraded to the status of a simple parish church. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the church was closed and building was used as a storage depot for salt. It was isted for demolition, and suffered more damage as a result. The building was not returned to the Catholic Church until 1826. It underwent restoration under the direction of architect Franz Christian Gau. In 1889 the church was assigned to the worshippers of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

, dependant upon the Patriarch of Antioch. The boiling was modified, with the addition of icons and an iconostasis between the choir and nave, the accommodate the new worshippers.

The Dada performance piece

On April 14, 1921, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was a venue for one of the last major

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

experiments in the history of the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

trend. Deemed a "Dada excursion", the event involved writers

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, André Breton,

Philippe Soupault Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault in ...

, as well as artist

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

. The group printed a pamphlet which read: "Today, at 15:00 hours, in the garden of St-Julien-le-Pauvre church, Dada ..extends a free invitation to its friends and enemies to join it in visiting the church's buildings. It will not be an

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

demonstration, as one would be inclined to believe, but rather a new interpretation of nature applied this time not to art, but to life." Jacques-Yves Conrad
''Promenade surréaliste sur la colline de Montmartre''
, at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvellebr>Center for the Study of Surrealism
; retrieved April 27, 2008 As they distributed copies, they shouted insulting or provocative slogans to passers-by: "Be dirty!... One must trim his nose as one trims his hair!... One must wash her breasts like she washes facecloths..." The "Dada excursion", conceived as a manner to revive the public's awareness of Dada, failed to gain needed attention, and, together with a mock trial of reactionary writer Maurice Barrès held later in the year, helped create a rift between Tzara's group and the future Surrealists Breton and Picabia.

Exterior

File:Square René-Viviani, Paris 5e 11.jpg, The Romanesque chevet on Place Viviani File:P1000303 Paris V eglise saint-Julien-le-pauvre reductwk.JPG, Remains of the Romanesque west front (lower portion) File:P1240985 Paris V eglise St-Julien-chapitaux rwk.jpg, Romanesque column capitals File:Saint Julien le Pauvre 02.jpg, Chevet and buttresses of 12th century The west front of the church varies by 30 degrees from true west, about the same variation as Notre Dame dw Paris; probably both churches were aligned to face the setting sun in mid-summer. Some of the original columns and columns from the early Romanesque church, with vegetal sculpture, are still visible near the west front. Vestiges of the gallery of the west facade are also still visible, as well as the rows of buttresses from the 12th century which still support the outer walls of the nave.

Interior

File:Saint Julien le pauvre (51071902667).jpg, Interior and iconostasis between the nave and choir File:Saint-Julien le pauvre (51002621095).jpg, Column capital with sculpture of a Harpy, half-woman and half-bird File:Paris (75), église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, bas-côté nord, vue vers l'est 0.JPG, Lower aisle on the north side, looking east The influence of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, built at the same time, is visible in the architecture of the interior of the church, particularly in the vaults and the columns and pillars in the nave and choir. The 13th-century nave is flanked by two lower aisles. and lined with arcades of columns supporting pointed arches. The columns have capitals decorated with sculpted water lilies and other aquatic plants. The choir is older, (12th century), and is a good example of the early Gothic style. It is covered with early six-part rib vaults, while the nave has the simpler, stronger four-part vaults. One 12th century column is decorated with sculptures of harpies, mythical half-woman, half-bird creatures popular in Romanesque architecture. The interior of the church underwent extensive modification in the 19th century to adapt it to its role as a church of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church. These include the addition of an iconostasis and icons; the removal of statues, with the exception of one statue from the earlier Roman church; and the removal of the church organ. THe iconostasis symbolizes the border between the nave, the human, visible world, and the sanctuary, the imvisible, sacred world. The current iconostasis was created in 1890 of carved woodwork by Georges BItar, an artist from Damascus.Dumoulin (2010), p. 95

Art and Decoration

File:P1220542 Paris V rue Galande n42 bas-relief rwk.jpg, A bas-relief of St. Julien from the church (c. 1380), now at 42 rue Galande File:Paris (75), église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, bas-côté nord, lutrin en fer forgé 2.JPG, A lectern of forged iron (Louis XIV period) originally from Bicêtre Hospital File:Eglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre @ Paris (30767161753).jpg, Icons File:Paris (75), église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Vierge à l'Enfant.jpg, Carved statue of Virgin Mary and Child (17th century) The building has piers replicating those found in Notre Dame, and the chapiters are carved with images of leaves and harpies. The choir area is covered by an iconostasis. North of the church, in the Square René Viviani, is found the oldest tree in Paris. It is a locust tree planted in 1602 by Jean Robin, gardener-in-chief during the reign of kings Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII. Also known as the "Lucky Tree of Paris", it is thought to bring years of good luck to those who gently touch the tree's bark.

References

Bibliography

*Dumoulin, Aline; Ardisson, Alexandra; Maingard, Jérôme; Antonello, Murielle; ''Églises de Paris'' (2010), Éditions Massin, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, *Lecompte, Francis and Ladoux, Bernard, "Paris Rive Gauche – Quartier Latin, St, Germain des Prés, Montparnasse – Les Essentials du Patrimoine", Éditions Massin, Paris,

External links

Description of the church at Patrimoine Paris.fr (in French) * {{Authority control Greek Catholic churches in Paris Lebanese diaspora in France Roman Catholic churches in the 5th arrondissement of Paris Melkite Greek Catholic churches Gothic architecture in Paris Eastern Catholic churches in France