Église Saint-Augustin de Paris
Encyclopedia
The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris (Church of St. Augustine) is a church in the VIIIe arrondissement
of Paris
, France
. Here Charles de Foucauld
was converted by its priest, Father Huvelin. During the Second Empire
, this area was undergoing considerable building work and demographic movement.
The Prefect of Paris, Baron Haussmann
was responsible for much of the design of the layout of Paris's rectilinear avenues, which called for prestigious edifices.
Saint-Augustin was built between 1860-1871 by Victor Baltard
(architect of Les Halles
) in an eclectic and vaguely Byzantine
style. It is almost 100 metres in length, with a dome height of 80 metres, and was one of the first sizable buildings in Paris constructed about a metal frame.
Saint-Augustin's facade features the four evangelists above arcades, and above them the twelve apostles and rosette window. Its stained glass windows depict bishops and martyrs of the 1st centuries, and cast-iron columns within feature polychrome angels. The church's organ was built by Charles Spackman Barker. One of the earliest organs to employ electricity, it features 54 stops, with 3 keyboards and pedals.
A statue of Joan of Arc
, by Paul Dubois, was erected before the church in 1896.
keyboards and pedalboards. The great organs of this magnificent building are the work of Charles Barker, celebrated in the world of organ building for his invention of the ”Barker machine”. Organs built by Barker were the first to be powered by electricity.
VIIIe arrondissement
The 8th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the right bank of the River Seine and centred on the Opéra, the 8th is, together with the 1st and 9th arrondissements and 16th arrondissement and 17th arrondissement, one of Paris's main...
of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Here Charles de Foucauld
Charles de Foucauld
Charles Eugène de Foucauld was a French Catholic religious and priest living among the Tuareg in the Sahara in Algeria. He was assassinated in 1916 outside the door of the fort he built for protection of the Tuareg and is considered by the Catholic Church to be a martyr...
was converted by its priest, Father Huvelin. During the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
, this area was undergoing considerable building work and demographic movement.
The Prefect of Paris, Baron Haussmann
Baron Haussmann
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...
was responsible for much of the design of the layout of Paris's rectilinear avenues, which called for prestigious edifices.
Victor Baltard
Victor Baltard , French architect, who was born in Paris, son of architect Louis Baltard.Until 1833, Baltard studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he garnered the Prix de Rome for designing a military school in 1833...
(architect of Les Halles
Les Halles
Les Halles is an area of Paris, France, located in the 1er arrondissement, just south of the fashionable rue Montorgueil. It is named for the large central wholesale marketplace, which was demolished in 1971, to be replaced with an underground modern shopping precinct, the Forum des Halles...
) in an eclectic and vaguely Byzantine
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
style. It is almost 100 metres in length, with a dome height of 80 metres, and was one of the first sizable buildings in Paris constructed about a metal frame.
Saint-Augustin's facade features the four evangelists above arcades, and above them the twelve apostles and rosette window. Its stained glass windows depict bishops and martyrs of the 1st centuries, and cast-iron columns within feature polychrome angels. The church's organ was built by Charles Spackman Barker. One of the earliest organs to employ electricity, it features 54 stops, with 3 keyboards and pedals.
A statue of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, by Paul Dubois, was erected before the church in 1896.
Great organs
There are three 54-key manualManual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
keyboards and pedalboards. The great organs of this magnificent building are the work of Charles Barker, celebrated in the world of organ building for his invention of the ”Barker machine”. Organs built by Barker were the first to be powered by electricity.