There is a French website of sacred sites, that says, there are 14 must see cathedrals and churches in Paris. Well, we didn’t have time for 14, but we did go to see St. Sulpice, an ornate baroque cathedral with an organ touted as the best in Europe. Sadly we didn’t get to hear it, but we certainly enjoyed slowly walking through this remarkable cathedral. It was built in the 17th century, and more recently got notoriety for being a place where the Da Vinci Code movie was filmed. So lets have a look.
In many cathedrals, organs have pipes in the front and the rear of the building, and sometimes in the middle as well. You will notice this one is not at the front or the back. It has very ornate columns throughout….
Not to mention a star spangled ceiling…
In addition there are both painted Bible scenes, and stained glass windows at several levels up to the ceiling…
Here’s two interestingly tinted scenes from Luke 1-2.
Everywhere you look there is more to see. I don’t think if I attended this church I would be paying much attention to the sermon.
Here we have both the Annunciation to Mary, and also Moses at the Burning Bush or below, an oddly dressed angel and Adam and Eve being shooed out of the garden of Eden.
I could have spent many hours here studying the imagery, or, just sitting in a rather plain side chapel, and praying or reflecting.
In general the motto of this ornate cathedral was surely— ‘if it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it’!
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