St-Paul-St-Louis

St-Paul-St-Louis Review

The leading Baroque church in the Marais, its dome rising 180 feet above the crossing, was begun in 1627 by the Jesuits, who modeled it after their Gesù church in Rome. Dark and brooding, the church contains Delacroix's Christ on the Mount of Olives in the transept and a shell-shape holy water font at the entrance, which was donated by Victor Hugo, who lived in nearby Place des Vosges. Hugo's beloved daughter, Léopoldine, was married here in 1843—though only to meet a tragic end nine months later, when she fell into the Seine and drowned, along with her husband Charles, who tried to save her. Compare the church's soot-stained exterior with the squeaky clean Hôtel de Sully (No. 62) to see what Paris's buildings would look like without regular cleanings.