Description of the attraction
The Saint-Eustache Church is located next to the Forum les Halles underground commercial center, the former Central Market. The temple is famous for its organ, the largest in France. Organ concerts are held here on Sundays.
The church is dedicated to the Christian Great Martyr Eustathius, equally revered in Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Eustathius Placid was a major military leader during the time of the Roman emperors Titus and Trajan. He converted to Christianity after he met a deer while hunting, in whose horns he saw the image of the Savior (on the roof of Saint-Eustache you can see the head of a deer). Called by the emperor to wage war against the barbarians, Eustathius brought victory and returned to Rome, where he openly confessed his faith. Together with his family, he was given to be torn apart by predators, but wild animals did not touch him. The emperor ordered the martyrs to be thrown into the red-hot womb of the copper bull - and then they died.
Saint-Eustache began to be built in 1532 according to the project of the architect Lemercier - he took the Gothic Notre-Dame-de-Paris as a model. According to this plan, the nave, northern chapels and a facade facing south were erected. In the next century, the southern chapels and nave vaults were influenced by the Renaissance style. And in the 18th century, the facade of the church was rebuilt in the classical style - for this, the first span of the church with two chapels was demolished. Thus, the purely Gothic plan of the temple is combined with the Renaissance volumes and the classical facade.
After the royal court moved to the Louvre Saint-Eustache, located near the palace, it acquired the role of the church of the royal family. Young Louis XIV was taken here to Mass, where his mother Anna of Austria and the all-powerful quartermaster of finance Colbert were buried here. The future Cardinal Richelieu and Moliere were baptized here.
The famous organ of Saint-Eustache is larger than the organ of Notre Dame Cathedral - it has about eight thousand pipes. The modern instrument was mounted only in 1989, and some of the old pipes that survived the fires were used. The great Jean Guillou, the favorite organist of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, sits at the organ music stand in Saint-Eustache.
In front of the church on the Place Rene-Kassen there is a sculpture "Rumor" by Henri de Miller - a huge human head, a palm near the ear. The head seems to be listening to what is happening underground.
