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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles found its origins in the 12th century, when the monks of the monastery of Saint-Magloire, settled in the Cité, built a chapel on their feudal estate along Rue Saint-Denis. This chapel, restored in 1118, became the centre of an annex parish of the church of Saint Barthélemy. In 1235, a church dedicated to the expanding parish, linked to the Champeaux market, was built outside the monastic enclosure, marking the beginning of the current building. The church was rebuilt several times, notably in 1320, 1611, 1727 and 1780, with the addition of an underground chapel.

In the 19th century, the church underwent major changes. In 1819 the relics of St.Hélène were transferred there by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1857, the drilling of the Boulevard de Sevastopol resulted in the destruction of the three chapels of the abside, as well as the houses adjacent to the south flank, replaced by parish buildings. The architects Étienne-Hippolyte Godde and Victor Baltard directed this work, which also altered the urban planning surrounding it with the disappearance of Rue Saint-Magloire.

The church became an emblematic place for the order of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1875, after the Commune of Paris, the shawl of Saint Leu was opened to authenticate the relics of Saint Helena, described as a "almost whole trunk" of the body. In 1928 Cardinal Dubois celebrated the reintegration of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, making Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles their capitular church in France. The relics were finally transferred in 2000 into an accessible crypt, marking its contemporary spiritual role.

In Gothic style, the church is distinguished by its two turret facade and sober interior, organized in a unique nave without transept, flanked by collaterals. Her choir, surrounded by a walk-in, overlooks a crypt dug in the 19th century. The organ, classified as a historical monument since 1915, dates partly from the 16th century and was modified by renowned factors such as François-Henri Clicquot (18th century) and Louis Suret (19th century). Damaged by a fire in 1974, it still awaits an estimated restoration between 200 000 € and 500 000 €.

The church houses notable works of art, including sculptures by Jean Bullant (Saint Anne and the Virgin) and Jean-Louis-Désiré Schroeder (Anges de la méditation), as well as a painting by Frans Pourbus le Jeune (The Holy Supper, today at the Louvre). Since the 19th century, the parish, entrusted to the Trinitaries, has engaged with the homeless in the Halles district, perpetuating its social and spiritual role in a constantly changing neighbourhood.

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