La Madeleine

The Madeleine Church in Paris has been a favorite since Kelly and I first met on Paris Study Abroad in 1980.

La Madeleine

The church is dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, or Madeleine in French. The scene in the pediment above the columns is of the Last Judgment. The church was planned by Louis XV as the focal point of a new street, the rue Royal, which led down to Place Louis XV, the current Place de la Concorde. 

View from the steps of La Madeleine towards
the Obelisk at Place de la Concorde and the 
National Assembly building

Work started on the church in the 1760s but stopped during the French Revolution in 1789 with only the foundations and the grand classical portico finished. Napoleon Bonaparte had the building redesigned in the Neoclassical style in 1806 to be "A Temple to the Glory of the Grand Army." But after his exile in 1814, construction resumed on it as a church and it wasn't finished until 1845 under King Louis-Philippe. At one point, in 1837, it was proposed to convert the building into the first railroad station in Paris, but this was deemed too impractical and expensive.

Interior of La Madeleine

The new church became popular with musicians. Evening concerts are still often held in this church for the public. Chopin's funeral at the Madeleine was delayed almost two weeks until October 30, 1849. Chopin had requested that Mozart's Requiem be sung at his funeral. The Church of the Madeleine had never permitted female singers in its choir, and the Requiem had major parts for female voices. The church finally relented, but the female singers were required to remain behind a black velvet curtain.

View toward the Back of the
Church and the Organ

Sande Krieger in La Madeleine

The church felt so open because there is no transept-it is not designed in the shape of a cross as most churchs are. It had a couple of interesting statues in the vestibules near the entrance. On the right was the Marriage of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph and on the left above the baptismal font was the Baptism of Christ by the famous French sculptor, François Rude. 

Marriage of the Blessed Virgin
and Saint Joseph

Detail of the Marriage statue

Baptism of Christ and Baptismal Font below

The church houses the relic of Saint Mary Magdalene-a rather large bone. It had various seals of authenticity attached to it.

Reliquary holding the bone of Saint Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene
"I saw the
tomb open and Christ lives!"

Close up of Saint Mary
Magdalene's Bone

Mary Magdalene was with Mary, Christ's mother, when Christ was crucified and at the tomb when he was buried. On the third day, Easter morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away. The angel told her not to be afraid, but that Christ was not there and he had risen!

We were inspired by the feeling in this church as we walked out of the church to a beautiful crisp Spring day.

Steps of La Madeleine

Kelly and Mike Krieger

Kelly, Sande and Mike at La Madeleine