Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 9: Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Preferred Title: 
Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Image View: 
The West Front, detail of the pediment
Creator: 
unknown (French)
Location: 
site: Paris, Île-de-France, France
Date: 
1014-1163 (creation); 1606 (alteration)
Cultural Context: 
French
Style Period: 
Romanesque
Work Type 1: 
church
Work Type 2: 
abbey church
Classification: 
architecture
Material: 
stone
Technique: 
construction (assembling)
Subjects: 
architectural exteriors
Description: 
This is the oldest church in Paris, begun in 542 when Childebert I founded the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The site was attacked by the Normans and the church was rebuilt in 1014 and rededicated in 1163. Its west end tower was pierced by a portal, completed in the twelfth century, which collapsed in 1604 and was replaced in 1606 by the present classicising portal, by Marcel Le Roy. Its choir, with an apsidal east end, provides an early example of flying buttresses. The Abbey buildings were all destroyed in 1794 except for the abbey church, now know simply as Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The tomb of philosopher René Descartes is located in one of the church's side chapels. (Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)
Collection: 
Archivision Addition Module Three
Identifier: 
1A2-F-P-SGP-A4
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.