Piece Of Stone From the Cathedral of S. Germain

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Piece Of Stone From Cathedral of S. Germain, Paris. Unknown mineral. 1.5 – 1 cm. Poss. 12th century. Collected 2003 for the Museum.

The Eglise St-Germain-des-Prés is the oldest standing church in Paris. It was built around the golden cross of Salomon and the tunic of Saint Vincent. Completed in 558, King Childebert was buried inside the church walls. The rest of the church’s history reads like an architectural Book of Job. The original church was destroyed by the Normans and rebuilt three times. During the French Revolution, the abbey and even the ancient graves of the Merovingians were looted. 15 tons of gunpowder that had been stored in the abbey exploded. Baron Haussmann destroyed the last remains of the deteriorating abbey walls and gates when he extended rue de Rennes to the front of the church to create Pl. St-Germain-des-Prés. In a little square amid the ruins of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin there is a sculpture by Picasso of Apollinaire. Pink and white hollyhocks grow to the side. In the second chapel, a stone marks the interred heart of 17th-century philosopher René Descartes.

Collection Main Street Museum. Gift of Evan Strusinski