Database: La Madeleine

Situated alongside the very chic faubourgh Saint-Germain, the Madeleine Church was primarily designed by Guillaume-Martin Couture, who drew his inspiration from Jacques-Germain Soufflot's Église Sainte-Geneviève, the future Panthéon.

In 1789, with the taking of the Bastille, the construction work ground to a virtual halt. Only the foundations and the grand portico had been completed. On December 30, 1791, work on the church was odered to stop; the Revolution was hardly an advocate of religion*. After his execution in 1793, Louis XVI was buried behind the church. In 1794, the basement was leased to a wine merchant who used it to store his merchandise**. Only in the 19th century was the edifice finally completed. -- * ... would be a mild way of putting it, yes. ** Or to put it another way, Templars.