Louis VI bought the Montmartre territory in 1133 and founded a royal Benedictine convent with his wife, Adelaide of Savoy. Pope Eugenius III reconsecrated the abbey in 1147. The article names no builder. The plan follows the Romanesque model, with a nave and lower aisles, and the capitals show Romanesque and early Gothic motifs. Two reused ancient columns support the choir arch, with 6th-to-7th century marble capitals.
The facade dates from 1775. Claude Chappe rebuilt the tower in 1794 for visual telegraph signals, and Ernest-Claude Sauvageot restored it from 1899 to 1905. Tommaso Gismondi added the bronze doors in 1980. The abbey and its crypts were destroyed during the Revolution.
The church is Catholic, with its entrance behind a tree-filled courtyard. The organ case is classified as a national historic object.
Comments