SAINT SULPICE (DA VINCI CODE) PARIS
One of the places to
include on any visit to Paris, would be the Church
of Saint Sulpice, the famous location of the Da
Vinci Code. This famous church is located in the
same district as the Church of Saint Germain-des-Pres
and this church. As this arrondissenaent extends
from the Seine all the way to the Boulevard de Montparnasse,
it also includes the Luxembourg Gardens.
Saint Sulpice was started in 1646 by an architect by the name
of Le Vau and that it was not finally completed until some one
hundred thirty-four years later, after six different architects
had worked on it. By the year 1733, all that remained to be built
of Saint Sulpice's was the facade, and then it was decided, as
so often happens in churches that are a long time in the building
-and the wonder is that it did not happen more often-to change
its style. The interior had been built in the Jesuit style, but
when the Italian architect Servandoni was commissioned to build
the facade, he built it in the classical style, and that is the
facade you see there now-with certain exceptions.
The interior of Saint Sulpice, which is three hundred
ninety-four feet long, one hundred eighty-seven
feet wide and ninety-eight feet high. Many of the
frescoes in this church were painted by Delacroix.
Also of interest are the two benitiers or holy water
vessels, which consist of giant seashells and were
a gift from the Republic of Venice to Francis I.
But to the lover of music, the chief attraction
of Saint Sulpice will always be its famous organ
and choir. Its organ is the largest in Europe, and
both the music and the choir have been praised by
French writers for generations.
A few anecdotes about the church. The ancestor of
the telegraph, the Chappe system (moving panel system
set on heights) had a fixed place on the roof until
1850. Baudelaire and the marquis de Sade were baptized
in this church. Victor Hugo got married here.
The Rose Line, a narrow brass strip, marks the original
zero-longitude line, which passed through Paris
before begin moved to Greenwich, England. Silas
the monk uses the line as a reference point in his
quest for the Holy Grail. You can retrace his path
from the stone statue north across the nave and
transept to an obelisk next to the statue of St
Peter. The Astronomical Gnomen in église
Saint-Sulpice was commissioned in order to determine
the exact date of easter, and the winter and summer
equinoxes.
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