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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement, located at 68 ter rue de Turenne in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, is an emblematic example of neoclassical architecture from the early 19th century. Its history dates back to the 17th century, when the hotel of Turenne, a sumptuous Marais mansion, was acquired in 1684 by the Benedictines of the perpetual worship of the Most Holy Sacrament. These nuns, fleeing the tensions linked to the conflict between Charles IV of Lorraine and Louis XIV, settled there after occupying several temporary shelters in Paris. The Duchess of Aiguillon offered them the hotel in exchange for the seigneury of Pontoise, allowing them to establish a lasting monastery there and to build a chapel of about 80 places, adorned with a painting by Hallé representing the Fraction du Bread.

The French Revolution dispersed the Benedictines in 1792, and the chapel became an annex oratory of the Minimes of the Place Royale (present Place des Vosges) after the concordat of 1802. It became a parish church in 1803 under the name of Saint-Denys-au-Marais and was considered too small for a growing population. In 1823, the City of Paris acquired the land to build a new building, entrusted to the architect Étienne-Hippolyte Godde, already known for the church Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou. The first stone was laid in 1826, and the church was consecrated in 1835 by the Archbishop of Paris, Bishop de Quélen, under the definitive name of Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement, in tribute to the first bishop of Paris.

The building is distinguished by its neoclassical façade, adorned with an ion columned porch and a pediment carved by Jean-Jacques Feuchère illustrating theological virtues (Foi, Espérance, Charity). Inside, the rectangular nave, supported by twelve columns symbolizing the tribes of Israel and the apostles, leads to an apse surmounted by a dome illuminated by an oculus. The church houses two remarkable organs: a grand organ of rostrum built by Daublaine-Callinet in 1839 (restored by Cavaillé-Coll in 1867) and a choir organ signed Cavaillé-Coll in 1869. His artistic treasures include a Pietà painted by Delacroix in 1844 in just 17 days, and paintings by François-Edouard Picot (The Pilgrims of Emmaus, 1840) and Gabriel-Christophe Guérin (The Baptism of Christ, 1819).

Ranked a historical monument in 2014, the church perpetuates a religious and artistic heritage. She was the framework of the marriage of Alphonse Daudet and Julia Allard in 1867, with Frédéric Mistral as witness. Today, it hosts a dynamic parish community, including a house of the Seminary of Paris, and remains a place of worship and major heritage in the Marais.

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