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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou came into being in the 17th century, when the village of Gros-Caillou, then expanding, required the construction of a branch of the parish of Saint-Sulpice. The first stone was laid in 1733 under the title of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Déliverance, although the archdiocesan registers designate it as Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou. The building, enlarged in 1775 by architect Chalgrin, was never completed until it was demolished during the French Revolution.

In 1822, a new church was erected on the same site by architect Godde, adopting a neo-classical style of "beautiful simplicity". The monument has been home since the remains of Jean-Sylvain Bailly, the first mayor of Paris in 1789, whose commemorative plaque was affixed in 1993. The confessionals, designed in 1854 by the Protestant Victor Baltard, and the chapel of the Virgin, made in 1971 by Paul Vimond and Claude Petit, bear witness to the artistic and liturgical developments of the place.

The church was the scene of significant events, as the demonstration of 2 February 1906 related to the inventories of church property under the Third Republic. His organs, successively built by Merklin (c. 1850), Mutin-Convers (1925), and Danion-Gonzalez (1976), illustrate his musical heritage. Four bells, melted in 1993 by the Paccard foundry, replaced the old Louise-Sophie bell of 1826.

Among the works of art are paintings by Joseph Chomp (1840), Bernard Gaillot (1834), and Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, as well as stained glass and liturgical furniture reflecting the eras of restoration. The church, classified as a Historical Monument in 1975, remains an active place of worship and a witness to the religious and political history of Paris.

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