Eglise de la Madeleine
From Paris Hotels Reviews
South of boulevard Haussmann, occupying nearly the whole of the place de la Madeleine, is the imperious-looking Eglise de la Madeleine (M° Madeleine), a favourite venue for society weddings. Modelled on the Parthenon, the building is surrounded by 52 Corinthian columns and fronted by a huge pediment depicting the Last Judgement; its facade is a near mirror image of the Assemblèe Nationale, directly opposite, on the far side of the place de la Concorde – a fine vista best appreciated from the top of the Madeleine steps. Originally intended as a monument to Napoleon’s army- a plan abandoned after the French were defeated by the Russians in 1812- the building narrowly escaped being turned into a railway station before finally being consecrated to Mary Magdalene in 1845. Inside, a theatrical stone sculpture of the Magdalene being swept up to heaven by two angels’ draws your eye to the high altar. The half-dome above is decorated with a fresco by Jules-Claude Ziegler (1804-56), a student of Ingres; entitled The History of Christianity, it commemorates the concordat signed between the church and state after the end of the Revolution, and shows all the key figures in Christendom, with Napoleon centre-stage, naturally. The church’s interior is otherwise rather dull and gloomy, heavy with glit-edged marble. If you're lucky, the sombre atmosphere may be broken by the sound of the organ, reckoned to be one of the Paris’s best - the church is in fact a regular venue for recitals and choral concerts. Illustrious past organists include Saint-Saens and Faure, whose famous Requiem was premiered at the Madeleine in 1888- to be heard here again at the composer’s own funeral 36 years later.
If Madeleine caters to spiritual needs, the rest of the square is given over to nourishment of a rather earthier kind, for this is where Paris’s top gourmet food stores Fauchon and Hèdiard (see box, p.398) are located. Their remarkable displays are a feast for the eyes, and both have restaurants where you can sample some of their epicurean treats. On the east side of the Madeleine church is one of the city’s oldest flower markets dating back to 1832, open every day except Monday, while nearby some rather fine Arts Nouveau public toilets, built in 1905, are definitely worth inspecting.
