Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

This gothic church is just next-door to the Panthéon. I've never been inside, although I've read that it's worth seeing. Maybe one of these days. It was built in the sixteenth century, long before its more massive neighbor. The mont in its name refers to the montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the hill named for the patron saint of Paris.

The tall building behind the church is part of the University of Paris, Pierre and Marie Curie campus, at Jussieu. The church-looking tower on the right is part of the Lycée Henri IV, a well-known Parisian high school.

The neighborhood is where the Romans built their city back in the day of Julius Caesar. Not far from this site is the old Roman amphitheater on the rue Monge, the ancient Roman forum, and the baths at Cluny. It's also very close to the spot (down the hill to the left) where Owen Wilson was picked up on his trips into the Parisian past in Woody Allen's film, "Midnight in Paris."

7 comments:

  1. You must go in one day. It's really something. Last time I was there was with a friend. We had noticed a guy lurking about outside and he followed us down the hill. Half way down he caught up with us and asked if he could photograph my friend's hair, from behind. To his credit he managed to do this without us thinking he was a complete weirdo. He has a website with various themes, one of which is people's hair.

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  2. The jubé, choir screen, in Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, is one of the few left in France.

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    1. Merci cher cousin
      It is beautiful as per this:https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubé#/media/File:Jube_Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.jpg

      next visit though we passed by it back in 2014 but people were coming out from attending sunday mass.

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    2. Vous êtes la bienvenue, chère Cousine. This jubé is especially nice and elaborate.

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  3. All such fascinating history... and then there's Owen Wilson, which puts everything into context.

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  4. Yes, it's really beautiful and somewhat unusual.

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  5. susan, it's on the list. Hopefully the hair guy has moved on.

    chm, I will have to go back. Maybe Ken will have time to stop in when he's there.

    mitch, adds a touch of reality, um, er...

    chris, :)

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