Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont

Paris · France · Church

The devil blows out the saint's candle with a bellows, the angel relights it — the same struggle, night after night, on Geneviève's hill.

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont holds what remains of the patron saint of Paris, Saint Geneviève, in a shrine behind the church's unique stone rood screen. The church stands on the hill that bears her name. The legend that has followed her for fifteen hundred years concerns her nightly walks to the building site of the first church at Saint-Denis: every time she set out the devil put out her candle with a bellows, and every time an angel relit it. The motif is carved in stone on medieval portals across the city — the saint standing on a dragon, the angel on one side and the bellows-wielding devil on the other. During the Revolution her remains were burnt on the Place de Grève and thrown into the Seine; the little that was saved lies here, and the flame before the shrine is never allowed to go out.

FAQ

Where is Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont located?

Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is in Paris, France.