Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile: the coloured cast-iron church hidden off the Grands Boulevards in Paris

Just steps from the Grands Boulevards of the 9th arrondissement, down a side street, there is a church that promises little from the outside: a sober neo-Gothic stone façade, wedged onto the corner between nineteenth-century buildings. It is called Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile, and it is worth stepping inside precisely because the interior completely belies the façade. It is the first church in Paris built with an entirely cast-iron structure, and it shows.

The history

The history is quick and precise. The first stone was laid in June 1854 and the church was inaugurated at Christmas 1855: just over twenty months of work. The initial design was by the architect Adrien-Louis Lusson, then handed over to Louis-Auguste Boileau. The choice of iron was no whim: the plot was small and narrow, and a metal structure allowed the interior space to be freed up and costs kept down. The external buttresses you see are purely decorative: it is the cast-iron skeleton that holds everything up.

The cast-iron structure

Inside, the difference is immediate. In place of the massive stone columns of traditional Gothic churches there are rows of slender cast-iron columns, painted in vivid blue, red and green, rising up to form pointed arches. The ribbed vaults, too, are more decorative than load-bearing. The effect is that of a Gothic cathedral reinterpreted in an industrial, chromatic key, something that in the mid-nineteenth century must have seemed almost an experiment. It is worth looking up and following the columns all the way to the top, where the colours stand out against the light of the stained-glass windows.

The stained glass

And the stained glass is the other reason to stop. The Stations of the Cross series along the lower band is a rarity: it is a fairly unusual iconographic programme depicting all fourteen Stations of the Cross, with the first made by Antoine Lusson the son and the other thirteen by Eugène Oudinot. The choir windows are the work of Gaspard Gsell. There is also a large organ built by Joseph Merklin, exhibited at the Universal Exposition of 1855 before being installed here. A curious detail explains an absence you will notice at once: the church has no bell tower, so as not to disturb the students of the nearby Paris Conservatoire. On Sundays a solemn sung Mass in Latin is still celebrated, an occasion when the organ is at its best.

How to visit it

Why is it so little visited? Simply because it is off the tourist trails: those who come to the Grands Boulevards head for the department stores, the covered passages or the Opéra, and this remains a neighbourhood church, declared a historic monument in 1983 but off the standard itineraries. To get there, the handiest stop is Grands Boulevards (metro lines 8 and 9); alternatively Bonne Nouvelle or Cadet. From there it is a few minutes' walk to rue Sainte-Cécile. It is worth checking the opening hours before you go, since they follow those of the religious services and can vary; mornings and Mass times are generally the safest moments to find it open. Admission is free: ten minutes are enough to understand why this church of coloured iron is one of the most surprising interiors in central Paris.

Getting there

The church is at number 4 rue du Conservatoire, in the 9th arrondissement, a stone's throw from the Grands Boulevards. The nearest metro stop is Grands Boulevards (lines 8 and 9), with Bonne Nouvelle not far off; several bus lines also pass nearby. Gare du Nord can be reached on foot or with a few minutes on the metro, while the main airports are Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly.