Eglise de St-Germain-des-Pres, Paris, France.
7 images Created 10 Sep 2018
The Abbey was founded in the 6th century by the son of Clovis I, Childebert I (ruled 511–558). It was a centre of intellectual life in the French Catholic church until it was disbanded during the French Revolution.
An explosion of saltpetre levelled the Abbey and its cloisters, but the church was spared.
The abbey church remains as the Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the oldest churches in Paris.
The tomb of philosopher René Descartes is located in one of the church's side chapels.
This area is also part of the Latin Quarter, because the Abbey donated some of its lands along the Seine for the erection of buildings to house the University of Paris, where Latin was the lingua franca among students who arrived from all over Europe and shared no other language.
An explosion of saltpetre levelled the Abbey and its cloisters, but the church was spared.
The abbey church remains as the Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the oldest churches in Paris.
The tomb of philosopher René Descartes is located in one of the church's side chapels.
This area is also part of the Latin Quarter, because the Abbey donated some of its lands along the Seine for the erection of buildings to house the University of Paris, where Latin was the lingua franca among students who arrived from all over Europe and shared no other language.
