The Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent is a church located in Lyon, on the banks of the Saône, quai Saint-Vincent, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon

1st arrondissement of Lyon

The 1st arrondissement of Lyon, France is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. It is located below the hill of Croix-Rousse and on the north part of the Presqu'île formed by the Saône and the Rhône, the two rivers in Lyon...

. In 1984, it was classified as monument historique

Monument historique

A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...

.

History

The church was built by Augustinian monks in 1759, when they were present in the area from the fourteenth century. The plans of the church were drawn by Léonard Roux. It was finally completed on 4 June 1789 by Joseph Janin, and was called Église Saint-Louis, as tribute to Louis Le Dauphin, who had contributed financially to its construction. A book called "Book of Accounts" was written to trace the entire history of the construction of the church. It took its current name in 1863.

In 1793, the church served as hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

, then warehouse

Warehouse

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...

 and gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...

.

In 1933, Mortamet restored the church. In 1941, a number of Lyon Catholics, Protestants and agnostics met fortnightly in the crypt of the Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent to discuss in depth Hitler's Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...

. On 12 December 1987, the church was destroyed by fire, but was reopened on 29 November 1992 after a major renovation. The organ, installed on the platform, was inaugurated on 26 March 1995.

Architecture

Inside, there are 18 cylindrical columns in the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 and large rectangular windows in the dome.

The facade of the church, decorated with a statue of the Virgin Mary and a frieze, was made by Charles Dufraine and has a round arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

 and two Ionic

Ionic order

The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...

columns.

External links

Official site