The Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris 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 ...

parish church in the

1st arrondissement of Paris The 1st arrondissement of Paris (''Ier arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le premier'' (the first). I ...

. It has housed the relics of the Empress

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, mother of

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

, since 1819, for which it remains a site of veneration in the

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

churches. In 1915 the French Ministry of Culture listed it as a monument of historical value.

History

In the 12th century, a small chapel dedicated to Saint Gilles, a hermit or monk in the Rhone Valley in the 6th century, occupied the site, within the Monastery of Saint-Maggiore, and close to the royal road that led from Paris to the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...

. In 1235 construction began of a new church independent of the monastery, dedicated to Saint Gilles and later also to Saint Lupus of Troyes, or Saint Leu, who was credited at the time with saving Troyes from an attack by

Atilla the Hun Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

. As the population of the neighborhood grew, the church was rebuilt in 1319, and underwent several major renovations and modifications, notably in 1611, 1727, and 1780, when an underground chapel was added. It was closed and badly damaged during the French Revolution, when it was turned into a storehouse for food. It was returned to the church in 1802 under Napoleon Bonaparte. The

Boulevard de Sébastopol The Boulevard de Sébastopol () is an important roadway in Paris, France, which serves to delimit the 1st and 2nd arrondissements from the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of the city. The boulevard is 1.3 km in length, starting from the Place ...

was constructed behind the church by then-President and future Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, resulting in the demolition of three chapels and the apse. A renovation was carried out by architects

Étienne-Hippolyte Godde Étienne-Hippolyte Godde (; 26 December 1781 – 1869) was a French neoclassic architect. Born in Breteuil, Oise, educated at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and Architect of the City of Paris from 1813 to 1830, Godde desig ...

and

Victor Baltard Victor Baltard (; 9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church. Life Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended ...

. The church was closed and damaged again during the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

in 1871, but was restored.

The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the reliquary of Saint Helena

In 1780 the Knights of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...

, a religious order which had originally been created in 1099 during the Crusades to protect early Christian sites in the Holy Land, established their headquarters in the church. They particularly venerated

, the mother of the

Emperor Constantine Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christ ...

and an important figure in the early history of Christianity. In 1819 the relics of Saint Helena had been transferred to the church from the

Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers Hautvillers Abbey, or more formally the Abbey of St Peter, Hautvillers (), is a former Benedictine monastery in the Hautvillers commune of the Marne (department), Marne department in north-eastern France. The abbey remained active between 665 an ...

by the Knights. In 1875, the reliquary of

Saint Lupus of Sens Saint Lupus of Sens (or Saint Loup de Sens) (born c. 573; died c. 623) was the nineteenth bishop of Sens. Life He was the son of Betton, Count of Tonnerre, " Blessed Betto," a member of the royal house of the Kingdom of Burgundy. He distinguishe ...

was opened in order to carry out an anatomical analysis of the remains of

. Based on the medical findings, Monsignor Richard, Archbishop of Paris, announced that the “reliquary contained the almost-complete torso of Saint Helena”, that “the head was missing and the limbs compressed”, and that “the state of the body conserved in the reliquary of the Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles corresponded to the descriptions known to the Bollandistes in the 18th century”. The reliquary was subsequently placed on open display above and behind the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

, at the feet of the large

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

, suspended between two pillars of the

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

. The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre moved their headquarters from the church in 1830, but on 16 October 1928, Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop of Paris, held a ceremony in the church for the “Reintegration of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre”. The building was subsequently made chapter house of that order. The order undertook a new mission to assist the Christian community in the Holy Land. On 17 March 2000 the relics of Saint Helena were transferred to the crypt of the order's knights, making them more easily accessible for veneration. The first

liturgy was celebrated before the relics of Saint Helena on 22 February 2003. The church is now managed by the

Trinitarian Order The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives (; abbreviated OSsT), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late 12th century. From the very ou ...

. It pays particular attention to the homeless of its neighborhood,

Les Halles Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on 12 January 1973 and was replaced by an underground shopping centre and a park. The unpopular modernist development was demolished yet again in 2010, and replac ...

Exterior

File:Paris, Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles, Außenansicht (1).jpg, Towers, facade and portal File:Paris, France - panoramio (45).jpg, Apse of church viewed from Avenue Sevastopol File:Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles (Paris) 4.jpg, West Portal on Rue Saint-Denis File:Eglise Saint-Leu Saint-Gilles @ Paris (32461260780).jpg, Portal with sculpture The facade on Rue Saint-Denis is distinguished by two high towers, but the rest of the exterior is difficult to see because of the narrow streets. The outer aisles of the nave and choir were added later, and probably replaced earlier external buttresses. The apse of the church was considerably shortened in the 19th century and three chapels were removed to make space for the new boulevard built by

Interior

File:P1010254 Paris Ier Eglise-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles nef centrale reductwk.JPG, The nave looking toward the choir File:P1010260 Paris Ier Eglise-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles chaire reductwk.JPG, The pulpit in the Nave File:P1010264 Paris Ier Eglise-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles autel reductwk.JPG, The choiir and altar File:Paris, Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles, Hauptorgel (4).jpg, The nave and the great organ The church is built in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

of the 14th century. This was a period of economic hardship, political conflict, and an outbreak of the

black death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

, or plague in Paris. As a consequence the interior of the church was more austere than earlier or later Gothic churches in Paris.The church's single nave counts numerous stained-glass windows. It is flanked by

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, but the church has no

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

. pl The church did not originally have collateral aisles and chapels, which were added in the 16th century. It most likely had external buttresses placed where the collateral aisles are today. The four-part Gothic

rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...

s over the nave transfer the weight of the roof downward and outwards to rows of columns, which form arcades with pointed arches. The present choir, the area of the church where the clergy worship, was constructed in 1611 after a large crypt was built underneath the church. The choir in the Renaissance style, blended with rib vaults and other Gothic elements.

Chapels and the Crypt

File:Saint Leu-Saint Gilles Santa Ana.JPG, Statue of Saint Anne and the Virgin, by

Jean Bullant Jean Bullant (; 1515 – 13 October 1578) was a French architect and sculptor who built the tombs of Anne de Montmorency, Grand Connétable of France, Henri II, and Catherine de' Medici. He also worked on the Tuileries, the Louvre, an ...

(1515-1578) File:Eglise Saint-Leu Saint-Gilles @ Paris (32718515741).jpg, Gate of Chapel the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, with

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each ...

es File:Eglise Saint-Leu Saint-Gilles @ Paris (32801197496).jpg, Interior of the Chapel of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre File:Saint Helena relics.JPG, Reliquary of Saint Helena The first chapel on the lower aisle on the left side dates from the 16th century, and was originally used for baptisms. It was later given for the exclusive use of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre for their ceremonies and meetings. The gilded reliquary in the form of a church, which holds relics of the Saint Helen, is displayed here. The chapel has a very imposing cast iron gate decorated with emblems of the Maltese Cross, the symbol of the Order. The interior is decorated like a formal salon, with murals painted by the 19th-century artist Jean-Louis Bezard (1799-1881) depicting "The Baptism of Christ" and "The Original Sin". These were the last works painted by Bezard, whose paintings was strongly influenced by those of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

. The second chapel displays a work of 16th-century sculpture by

(1550-1578), who was better-known as an architect than as a sculptor; his famous buildings included the

Château de Chenonceau The Château de Chenonceau () is a French château spanning the river Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire Valley. The estate of Chenonceau is first ...

in the

Loire Valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

, bridging the River Cher. The statue depicts

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

and education of the Virgin Mary; Mary is a smiling child, holding an apple, while Saint Anne, with a stern face, holds a book. The Crypt was built beneath the choir in 1780 by architect

Charles de Wailly Charles de Wailly () (9 November 1730 – 2 November 1798) was a French architect and urbanist, and furniture designer, one of the principals in the Neoclassical revival of the Antique. His major work was the Théâtre de l'Odéon for the Coméd ...

. It was created for the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, particularly to display the relics of Saint Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, brought to France by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Some of the relics are kept here, with others are in the reliquary of the chapel of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre on the main floor.

Stained Glass

File:P1010269 Paris Ier Eglise-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles vitrail reductwk.JPG, Window of the Apostles File:Paris-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Apostel 576.JPG, Detail of the Apostles window- St. Andrew (top) and Saint Simon File:Paris-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles734.JPG, Sacred Heart Window File:Paris Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Sacré-Cœur 633.JPG, Detail of the Sacred Heart window by Henri Chaban File:Paris-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Schöpfung 40.JPG, "The Creation" window File:Paris-Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles749.JPG, "Adam and Eve in the "Creation" window File:Paris Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Wurzel Jesse 651.JPG, "The Tree of Jesse" window File:Paris Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Wurzel Jesse 656.JPG, Detail of the "Tree of Jesse" window: A King of the Old Testament File:Paris Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles 603.JPG, "Window of the Archangel Michael" - Angels sounding trumpets File:Paris Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Genoveva 598.JPG,

Saint Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Reco ...

praying for the defenders of Paris against the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

The stained glass windows date to the 19th century, between about 1861 and 1869. They were made by Eugène-Stanislas Oudinot (1827–1889), Prosper Lafaye and Paul Nicod. The windows were damaged during the

, but were restored by Henri Chabin between 1875 and 1881.

Alabaster Sculpture

File:Saint Leu Saint Gilles carved Alabaster retable.jpg The disambulatory of the church displays an unusual art treasure; a

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

with three bas-reliefs made of

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

, depicting scenes from the life of Christ. They were created in Nottingham, England and date to the 15th century. They illustrate "The Last Supper", "The Kiss of Judas", 'and 'The Flagellation of Christ". They are made in a small format, designed for display in private oratories and in the altar pieces and retables of churches. According to tradition, these sculptures were originally located in

Holy Innocents' Cemetery The Holy Innocents' Cemetery (French: Cimetière des Saints-Innocents or Cimetière des Innocents) is a defunct cemetery in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages until the late 18th century. It was the oldest and largest cemetery in Paris and ...

in Paris, the largest cemetery in Paris until the end of the 18th century.

Organ

File:Paris, Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles, Hauptorgel (1).jpg, The main organ, on the tribune over the entrance File:Paris, Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles, Chororgel (2).jpg, Choir Organ, behind the altar. The church's main organ dates to shortly before 1603. It was enlarged between 1637 and 1659 by Guy Jolly, giving it three keyboards and a set of pedals for a total of 27 stops. A fourth keyboard and pedals were added in 1671. The major part of the present organ was built by

François-Henri Clicquot François-Henri (also Henry) Clicquot (1732 – 24 May 1790) was a French organ builder and was the grandson of Robert Clicquot and son of Louis-Alexandre Cliquot, who were also noted organ builders. Clicquot was born in Paris, where he later ...

between 1786 and 1783. bringing the number of stops to twenty-eight. It was modified again by Louis Suret in 1855; he preserved most of the Clicquot organ, giving it five keyboards, one new, and an additional three to five stops. The next work was done in 1911 and 1912 by Mutin The present instrument has three keyboards and a set of pedals, for a total of twenty-five stops. It was protected as an object of historical significance in 1915, and underwent further restoration in 1983 A smaller organ is located in the choir, behind the altar.

References

External links

Website of the church (in French)

Description of protected objects in church from French Ministry of Culture

Bibliography (in French)

*Dumoulin, Aline; Ardisson, Alexandra; Maingard, Jérôme; Antonello, Murielle; ''Églises de Paris'' (2017), Éditions Massin, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles Buildings and structures completed in 1235 Churches completed in the 1230s 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Roman Catholic churches in the 1st arrondissement of Paris Helena, mother of Constantine I