Church of the Madeleine

The Church of the Madeleine

The Paris audio-guided tour presents you with the Church of the Madeleine, a surprising neoclassical temple raised on the square of the same name, whose eventful history crossed several regimes before it became a place of worship.

More than eighty years of construction

The first stone was laid by Louis XV in 1763, for a church in the shape of a Latin cross topped with a dome. The Revolution interrupted the works and the building was nearly to host in turn a library, an opera, the Bank of France or the Stock Exchange. Napoleon, after Austerlitz, wanted to make it a temple to the glory of his Grand Army and chose the project of Pierre-Alexandre Vignon, inspired by ancient temples. But after the Russian campaign of 1812, the project was abandoned; Louis XVIII even considered installing a railway station there. Finally, in 1842, seventy-eight years after the first stone, the building was consecrated to Catholic worship. Without cross or bell tower, it presents itself as a Greek temple girded with fifty-two Corinthian columns.

What there is to see

The building surprises with its silhouette of an ancient temple, rare for a church. Inside, the sober and luminous nave, little laden with ornaments, invites contemplation. From the top of its steps, the view extends in a line towards the Place de la Concorde and the National Assembly, in one of the finest axes of Paris. It is a place at once spiritual and astonishing by its architecture.

Practical information

The Church of the Madeleine is on the Place de la Madeleine, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. A place of worship open to visitors, it is discovered with respect for the services; the opening hours are to be checked on site.

Why does the Madeleine resemble a Greek temple?

Because Napoleon first wanted to make it a temple to the glory of his army; the chosen project, inspired by Antiquity, gave it its fifty-two Corinthian columns.

When was the church consecrated?

In 1842, seventy-eight years after the laying of the first stone by Louis XV in 1763.