Saint-Sulpice, Paris

About Saint-Sulpice

Saint-Sulpice is a Catholic church on the east side of Place Saint-Sulpice in the 6th arrondissement, the second largest in Paris. It is dedicated to Saint Sulpitius the Pious. The present building stands on the site of a 13th-century Romanesque church; Queen Anne of Austria laid the first stone in 1646, and construction went on, with pauses, for over a century.

Several architects worked on it: Daniel Gittard built the choir and transept, Gilles-Marie Oppenord and Giovanni Servandoni the nave. Servandoni won the competition for the west façade in 1732, inspired by St Paul's Cathedral in London. Jean-François Chalgrin later rebuilt the north tower, but the south tower was never finished, which is why the towers look so different.

What to see

• The gnomon — a brass floor line and marble obelisk.
• The Chapel of the Holy Angels — murals by Eugène Delacroix.
• Shell fonts — giant clam shells by the entrance.
• The Lady Chapel — Pigalle's statue and a painted dome.
• The great organ — Aristide Cavaillé-Coll's masterpiece.
• Façade and square — two towers and the Fountain of the Four Bishops.

The Saint-Sulpice gnomon

The church's most unusual feature is its gnomon, an 18th-century astronomical instrument. In 1727 the parish priest had it built to pin down the equinoxes and calculate the date of Easter. A brass meridian line runs across the transept floor and climbs a white marble obelisk nearly 11 metres high. A sunbeam through a lens in a window falls on the line at noon, marking the season.

The gnomon was made famous by The Da Vinci Code, but the church itself warns visitors that it is a scientific instrument, not a 'Rose Line' or a trace of a pagan temple, and it doesn't coincide with the Paris Observatory meridian. A sign by the obelisk explains how it works.

Delacroix and the treasures inside

The first chapel on the right is the Chapel of the Holy Angels, with murals by Eugène Delacroix painted in 1855–1861. The best known are Jacob Wrestling with the Angel and Heliodorus Driven from the Temple, powerful, dynamic scenes by the great Romantic.

By the entrance stand the two halves of a huge giant clam shell given to King Francis I by the Republic of Venice; today they serve as holy-water fonts on rock-like bases by the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. Pigalle also made the white marble Virgin in the Lady Chapel at the far end, beneath a dome painted by François Lemoyne in 1734.

The great organ

Above the west entrance stands the great organ, rebuilt in 1862 by the master builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. With 102 stops, five manuals and pedals, it's considered his masterpiece and perhaps the most impressive organ of the French Romantic era. Chalgrin designed its carved case.

The organ has had a remarkable line of organists. For over a century, from 1870 to 1971, Saint-Sulpice had only two, the composers Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, and thanks to them the instrument survives almost exactly as built.

Place Saint-Sulpice

Before the church lies spacious Place Saint-Sulpice, with chestnut trees and the large Fountain of the Four Bishops at its centre. In summer it hosts fairs of antiques, books and ceramics, and cafés with terraces line its edges.

Around the square are fashion boutiques, design shops and stores of church goods. It's five minutes to the Luxembourg Gardens and the same to the cafés of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Victor Hugo married in this church, and Charles Baudelaire was baptised here.

Tips for your visit

Combine Saint-Sulpice with the Luxembourg Gardens and Saint-Germain-des-Prés for a pleasant half-day on the Left Bank. Half an hour is enough for the church unless you wait for the organ.

Find the brass line in the transept floor and follow it to the obelisk, then look into the Delacroix chapel to the right of the entrance. Photos without flash are allowed inside.

Dress modestly, as in any working church. Afterwards, sit by the fountain on the square or have a coffee at a café opposite.

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How to do it right

• Free entry.
• Organ on Sundays.
• Delacroix on the right.
• Gnomon in the transept.

Questions