| Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre | |
|---|---|
 Saint-Julien--Le-Pauvre, Paris | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Catholic Church |
| Province | Archdiocese of Paris |
| Rite | Melkite Greek |
| Location | |
| Location | 5th arrondissement,Paris |
 Interactive map of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre | |
| Coordinates | 48°51′7.5″N2°20′49.5″E / 48.852083°N 2.347083°E /48.852083; 2.347083 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church |
| Style | Romanesque |
| Completed | 13th century |
Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, in fullÉglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (French forChurch of Saint Julian the Poor), is aMelkite Greek Catholicparish church inParis,France, and one of the city's oldest religious buildings. Begun inRomanesque style during the 12th century, most of its architecture isPrimary Gothic. It is in the5th arrondissement, on theleft bank of theSeine River, about 500 meters away from theMusée de Cluny and not far from theMaubert-MutualitéParis Métro station. It shares a city block with theSquare René Viviani.
Originally aLatin Catholic place of worship, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was built in stages from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and was granted to theEastern CatholicMelkite community in 1889. The 12th-century design for the building was revised several times during the construction process, and the church is significantly smaller in size than originally planned.
The church was dedicated to two medieval French saints of the same name:Julian of Le Mans and a figure from the region ofDauphiné.[1] "The poor" describes the modesty of the building, which makes it look very compact, compared with the contemporary cathedrals of the same style in the same region ofÎle-de-France.[1]
Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre replaced a 6th-century oratory dedicated to Saint Julien de Broude, which was part of aMerovingian hospice which sheltered pilgrims without funds.[2][1][3][4]
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The earliest mention of such a site was found in texts authored byGregory,bishop of Tours, who resided there in the 6th century during the rule ofChilperic I, king ofNeustria.[1] Asynagogue serving theJewish residents, probably the oldest in the city, was located in its environs.[5] The buildings were badly damaged in the 9th century during the Norman invasion. In about 1120 the building was ceded to the monks of Clunisian order from the Abbey of Longpoint. It first took the name ofJulian of Le Mans, the first bishop of Mans, then later was dedicated to SaintJulian the Hospitaller.
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The new church was begun between 1165 and 1170 upon the foundations of the older church. It was built underKing Louis VII, the founder of theUniversity of Paris, and ofNotre-Dame de Paris.[6] It is thirty years younger than theSaint Pierre de Montmartre church, the construction of the famous Gothic ambulatory of theBasilica of Saint-Denis lay between them.[4][3] It was inspired by the contemporary Notre Dame de Paris.[3] The building effort was supported by theClunaic monastic community ofLongpont. Their enterprise resulted in the completion of the choir and, most likely, thenave (ca. 1210–1220).[3]
Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was begun during the creation of Gothic style under the rule ofKingLouis the Younger, showing that the same principles of a style, under different economical conditions, can have different outcomes.[4] The only one of the city's twelfth-century parish churches to have endured,[4] it was never completed in its original design: the choir area was intended to be three stories high, and theclerestory is an incompletetriforium; the nave was supposed to be covered bysexpartite vaults, which were replaced by a wooden roof and, after the 17th century, by a new system of vaults; and, of a tower meant to stand on the church's southern side, only the staircase was begun.[3] The easternapses use material from an older building.[3]
The church was closely associated with the nearby School of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, and thenUniversity of Paris, orSorbonne College whose charter was confirmed by the Pope in 1215. For three centuries the parishioners of the church included the students and the eminent scholars of the university, includingDante andThomas Aquinas, and the church was used as the meeting place for college assemblies.[6]
In the 17th centuryCardinal Richelieu transferred the Sorbonne to a new campus and built a new chapel. the Saint Julien church entered a long decline. The upper part of the nave was rebuilt, using a non-Romanesque cross section of thebarrel vault. The two westernbays in the nave were demolished, and a northwestern facade was added. The northern aisle was preserved with its Gothic rib vaults, and two of its bays serve as asacristy.[3] In 1655 the church was downgraded to the status of a simple parish church.[6]
During theFrench Revolution, the church was closed and building was used as a storage depot for salt. It was listed for demolition, and suffered more damage as a result.[1] The building was not returned to the Catholic Church until 1826. It underwent restoration under the direction of architectFranz Christian Gau.[7]
In 1889 the church was assigned to the worshippers of theMelkite Greek Catholic Church, dependent upon the Patriarch of Antioch. The boiling was modified, with the addition of icons and an iconostasis between the choir and nave, the accommodate the new worshippers.[6]
On April 14, 1921, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre was a venue for one of the last majorperformance art experiments in the history of theDadaavant-garde trend. Deemed a "Dada excursion", the event involved writersTristan Tzara,André Breton,Philippe Soupault, as well as artistFrancis Picabia. The group printed a pamphlet which read: "Today, at 15:00 hours, in the garden of St-Julien-le-Pauvre church, Dada [...] extends a free invitation to its friends and enemies to join it in visiting the church's buildings. It will not be ananticlerical demonstration, as one would be inclined to believe, but rather a new interpretation of nature applied this time not to art, but to life."[8] As they distributed copies, they shouted insulting or provocative slogans to passers-by: "Be dirty!... One must trim his nose as one trims his hair!... One must wash her breasts like she washes facecloths..."[8]
The "Dada excursion", conceived as a manner to revive the public's awareness of Dada, failed to gain needed attention, and, together with a mock trial ofreactionary writerMaurice Barrès held later in the year, helped create a rift between Tzara's group and the futureSurrealists Breton and Picabia.[9]
The west front of the church varies by 30 degrees from true west, about the same variation as Notre Dame dw Paris; probably both churches were aligned to face the setting sun in mid-summer. Some of the original columns and columns from the early Primary Gothic church, with typical vegetal sculpture, are still visible near the west front. The (closed) arcade is Romanesque, possibly even a relic from before 1160. The remaining western window has been renewed, the surroundings suggest an older pointed arch, apt to the Gothic vaults of the aisle inside. Vestiges of the gallery of the west facade are also still visible, as well as the rows of buttresses from the 12th century which still support the outer walls of the nave.[10]
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The influence of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, built at the same time, is visible in the architecture of the interior of the church, particularly in the vaults and the columns and pillars in the nave and choir. The 13th-century nave is flanked by two lower aisles. and lined with arcades of columns supporting pointed arches. The columns have capitals decorated with sculpted water lilies and other aquatic plants. The choir is older (12th century) and is a good example of the early Gothic style. It is covered with early six-part rib vaults, while the nave has the simpler, stronger four-part vaults. One 12th century column is decorated with sculptures ofharpies, mythical half-woman, half-bird creatures popular in Romanesque architecture.[10]
The interior of the church underwent extensive modification in the 19th century to adapt it to its role as a church of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church. These include the addition of aniconostasis and icons; the removal of statues, with the exception of one statue from the earlier Roman church; and the removal of the church organ.[10] The iconostasis symbolizes the border between the nave, the human, visible world, and the sanctuary, the imvisible, sacred world. The current iconostasis was created in 1890 of carved woodwork by Georges BItar, an artist from Damascus.[10]
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The building haspiers replicating those found in Notre Dame, and the chapiters are carved with images of leaves andharpies.[3] The choir area is covered by aniconostasis.[3]
North of the church, in theSquare René Viviani, is found the oldest tree in Paris. It is a locust tree planted in 1602 byJean Robin, gardener-in-chief during the reign of kings Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII. Also known as the "Lucky Tree of Paris", it is thought to bring years of good luck to those who gently touch the tree's bark.
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